Raiders further deepen backfield, add Doug Martin

The Raiders have apparently begun piecing together a back-up plan should they be without 2017 leading rusher Marshawn Lynch moving forward.

Oakland has agreed to the terms of a one-year deal with former-Buccaneer Doug Martin, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Martin, 29, earned All-Pro honors in 2015, rushing for 1,402 yards — the second-highest total in the league — on 288 carries. Aside from that performance, the six-year pro has not surpassed the 500-yard mark since bursting onto the scene his rookie year setting career highs in carries (319), rushing yards (1,454) and touchdowns (11).

The Stockton-born Oakland native has not scored more than six times (2015) in a season since 2012, getting to the end zone just three times in each of the past two seasons following a suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.

In many respects, 2017 was the toughest year of Martin’s career. He set career lows in rushing yards (406) and receptions (9) while matching his career-worst 2.9 yards per carry.

Lynch, 31, racked up 4.3 yards per attempt — 207 carries for 891 yards — scoring seven times in his first season with the Raiders.

While injuries has slowed his career, Martin missed just one game last season due to injury, which is a positive, but that did not prevent Tampa Bay from splitting its carries between him Peyton Barber and Jacquizz Rodgers. He will likely be asked to do the same in Oakland, sharing the rock with DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard — and that is without the consideration of Lynch, whose future will be a bit easier to tell come Sunday when he his owed a $1 million bonus.

It is worth noting that Martin’s best single-game performance in the NFL came in 2012, in his lone trip to Oakland, when, as a rookie, he plowed the Oakland Coliseum for 251 yards and four scores on 25 carries.

Kalama Hines is SFBay’s sports director and Oakland Raiders beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @HineSight_2020 on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of Raiders football.