One of the surprising contracts doled out this offseason by Raiders’ general manager Reggie McKenzie was a 2-year, $3.45 million deal ($600k guaranteed) to former Browns and Colts running back, Trent Richardson. Although he showed very little playmaking ability in his first three years, the Raiders signed Richardson in March to compete for the starting job.
As of now, the experiment doesn’t appear to be off to a great start. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “whispers are that the Trent Richardson reclamation project is not going so well.” Specifically what that means is anyone’s guess, but clearly there’s some discussion near the organization that Richardson is off to an underwhelming start.
In his short career, Richardson has averaged 3.3 yards-per-carry – a disappointing number for a player drafted in the first round by Cleveland and later traded to Indianapolis for another first-round pick. Someone who previously worked closely with Richardson in another NFL city once told me Trent would be “out of the league within two years.” At the time, those thoughts weren’t relevant to the Raiders. Much has changed in the time since, but if the “whispers” are true, it appears Trent Richardson has not.
