With the 2016 season now officially behind us, some interesting players will begin to hit the market as teams decide who they wish to keep. Reggie McKenzie’s old team, the Green Bay Packers, just let go of their 7-year veteran running back, James Starks.
He was released with a non-football injury designation, but according to Ian Rapoport, he will be healthy going forward.
Starks isn’t going to have anyone scrambling for the phone, but he should get some interest.
As running backs go, he just passed that 30-year-old threshold, though he doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on him, having averaged under 100 rushes per season in his career.
McKenzie was director of player personnel in Green Bay in 2010 when they spent a 6th round pick on Starks out of Buffalo.
The 6-1, 203-pound back was a major factor in the team’s Super Bowl run his rookie season, starting every playoff game and rushing for 315 yards and a touchdown on 81 carries. He has averaged just over 400 yards and 12 games per season since then, taking a backseat to Eddie Lacy the past four seasons.
Right now, McKenzie has another of his team’s 6th round running backs to ponder whether to retain. Latavius Murray is set to become a free agent this offseason. Should they find bringing him back to be more expensive than they’re willing to pay, they will have to look elsewhere at the position.
Starks is available right now to be signed by any interested team. He would be an insurance signing for any team at this point and likely on a one-year deal.
As for the Raiders, they will still have Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington as their scat backs, so they either need a workhorse type back or a complementary back in a committee backfield.
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