In the aftermath of the off-field incident with his wife, Ray Rice has now sat out the last two NFL seasons. Every time a team has what looks like an opportunity, his name surfaces to some degree, and the former Baltimore Ravens running back has reiterated that he hopes to play next season. To that end, Rice has taken what seems like a good networking opportunity by mentoring players at the pre-draft NFLPA Bowl.
In an interview with WFAN radio Friday morning, New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan said the team has discussed signing Rice “at various points in time” while also saying he doesn’t foresee signing the now-29-year-old.
When we last saw Rice on a football field, he was averaging a career-low 3.1 yards per carry over 15 games with the Ravens in 2013. But if you take out a 25-carry, 131-yard effort against the Chicago Bears, Rice averaged just 2.8 yards per carry over his other 14 contests that season. The hip and quad issues Rice played through in 2013 were probably a factor in his struggles, but his own bad judgement took away the opportunity he would have had in 2014.
The Jets may be in the market for running backs this offseason with Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Stevan Ridley slated to hit free agency. But they can do a lot better than Rice, who obviously carries significant on-field uncertainty along with any lingering off-the-field baggage. The other 31 teams around the league should be similarly hesitant to bring Rice aboard during the coming offseason, and he still seems unlikely to get another chance in the NFL.
