There’s no coming back from this one. The Oakland Raiders cutting Trent Richardson as teams around the league trim down their rosters to 75 players probably means it’s the last we’ve seen of him in the NFL.
Richardson isn’t the only player released in a busy day for teams getting rid of players for various reasons while making others think twice about who they can pick up now. But it’s interesting to see the trajectory of his career coming to a full stop, beginning at pretty high point of being the number three overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, and ends with a thud of not even making it into the regular season.
The Raiders gave Richardson $600,000 in guaranteed money following his release from the Colts, but he was either sick (pneumonia) or simply terrible during training camp. He finished his preseason duties with 19 yards on five carries in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Richardson wasn’t too bad his rookie season in Cleveland, with 950 yards and 11 touchdowns. Traded to the Indianapolis Colts a season later for a first round pick, Richardson started falling down the pecking order, averaging barely over three years per carry in Indianapolis. He rushed for 519 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Colts, probably his final contribution in the league, despite being just 25.