Should the Raiders go after Rashard Mendenhall?

Rashard Mendenhall's bone crushing power style would fit perfectly with the classic Raiders image. He also could fit other parts of that classic image as well as a player that was a castaway after failing to meet expectations.

Rashard is not for sure gone from the Steelers but the Steelers President Art Rooney II has come out publicly about Mendenhall's failings to meet Steeler expectations. Thanks goes to NFL.com for the quotes used here.

"The season Rashard (had) was not what we would have hope(d) for," Steelers president Art Rooney II told Steelers Digest writer Bob Labriola. "Obviously, we knew he was coming back from an injury so there were some unknowns there. So, without getting into the real specifics with Rashard, it's fair to say that we are going to need a better performance out of the running back position if we're going to be successful."

Now that comment isn't outright saying that Mendenhall will be cut but it certainly is not one saying his position on the team is set. Rooney expected more from the position in general that was manned by a platoon of running backs that included Jonathan Dwyer and Issac Redman. Art made no bones about possibly looking elsewhere to fill their RB needs though.

"Whether it's Rashard or Jonathan or Isaac (Redman) or somebody else, we have to be better at that position, as well as others, but certainly at that position. In this offseason that's something we've got to look at and decide how we get better and who we get better with."

If the Steelers were to move on from Mendenhall who was a former first round pick the Raiders should definitely take a look at adding him to their backfield. They did not adaquetly fill Michael Bush's role last year and Rashard would actually be even more powerful of a runner than Bush was.

Mendenhall is not one that comes without controversy due to many different moments where his mouth has landed him in hot water. One classic time was when he went public with his own thoughts of a 9/11 conspiracy. The Steelers were more willing to deal with his mouth when he was gaining 1,100 or 1,200 yards rushing.

With the Steelers running game being ranked 26th last year and Rashard not adding much help in that department it appears likely Mendenhall will be wearing another team's colors next year. Would you want those colors to be the Silver and Black?