Ray Rice NFL Return Latest News: Beleaguered Running Back May Wait a Long Time
It looks like Ray Rice will have to wait for awhile to get a second chance in the NFL. It would be nice to say that teams are staying away from the troubled RB on some moral grounds but as the Dallas Cowboys proved with the signing of Greg Hardy if there was a team that thought Rice could help them win they would sign him as fast as they can. However, at 28 years old and after a down season in 2013, it seems like most NFL teams do not think he is worth the trouble -- salary cap and or public relations considerations certainly factor in.
Case in point are the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars have a rabid fan base in their market but have fallen from relevance nationally. They needed help at the running back position and a way to make a splash on the PR front. Signing Rice could have accomplished both, yet the Jaguars chose to go in a different direction.
The Jaguars had plenty of cap space to work a deal fro Rice, but they claimed Bernard Price off of waivers to help get over the disappointment of the Toby Gerhart free agent signing and to find someone to share the load with Denard Robinson. The Jaguars had been rumored to be after Demarco Murray, but once he became too expensive, Rice seemed like a viable alternate.
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"In theory, that would also make it easier for the Jaguars to be the team that gives Ray Rice a second chance. And yet they haven't, which underscores the reality that Ray Rice likely won't be getting a second chance," Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote about Rice and the Jaguars. "With rosters at 90 per team and guys like Tim Tebow getting workouts, Rice continues to wait by a phone that likely will never ring."
"It makes his decision not to attend the Veteran Combine even more baffling, since participation in a mass workout would give teams a chance to see what he currently can do without inviting the wrath that would accompany bringing him in for a private look-see," he continued.
