NFL Player News

The Raiders will likely settle on Latavius Murray as their featured back in 2015, per NFL.com. The lack of viable competition on their roster would indicate as much.

The team brought in Roy Helu for third-down duties, as well as former third overall pick Trent Richardson, who can hardly at this point be considered a threat to Murray despite the declaration of Jack Del Rio that they will battle for the starting job. The only other backs on the roster are comparative non-entities George Atkinson and Michael Dyer.

Murray came on strong late last year. He rushed for 413 yards over the last six games and averaged 5.27 yards per carry that ranked fifth in the league.

"Getting a chance to start three games (last season), it's something that I definitely want to continue to build off of," Murray told the team website. I had that mentalty in the offseason just to prepare to be the No. 1 guy and play that way and train that way."

Two veteran free agent running backs will work out for the Lions on Tuesday, per a report from NFL.com.

Ben Tate, who has rushed for 2,325 yards in five years with three teams, will fly to Detroit for a tryout, sources say. The 26-year-old Tate played for Minnesota and Cleveland last year. 

Daniel Thomas, the 27-year-old running back, will also work out for the Lions. Thomas has played all four years of his career with Miami, rushing for 1,480 yards. 

The Cowboys announced they have signed running back Lache Seastrunk and linebacker Justin Jackson on Monday, per the Dallas Morning News. 

Seastrunk excelled in high school in the Dallas area and starred at Baylor but has yet to find a niche in the NFL. He's been signed and released by the Redskins, Panthers and Titans.

Jackson has also been signed and waived by three teams, the Raiders, Panthers and Redskins. 

Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson will continue to return kicks this season.

Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said, "In my mind, Cordarrelle Patterson's the best kick returner in the league, so it would be crazy for me to put someone else in that spot," per NFL.com.

Patterson averaged 25.6 yards on returns last year, sixth in the league. He still has room for improvement, Priefer said. 

"There's still things that he can't do this year he did last year, like put the ball on the ground," he said. 

Running back Shane Veeren had a lot of options in free agency. The market is usually big for good players coming off a championship, per csnne.com.

Vereen fielded a number of offers from NFL teams but quickly decided the Giants were the best fit for him.

“There were other offers, but I felt like this was the right fit for me. I felt like this was the right place for me. And I haven’t looked back yet,” Vereen said. “It’s been a learning process, but it’s been fun. I couldn’t even tell you [how many offers I had] because it all happened so fast. Free agency opened and then by about noon West Coast time I was going to be a Giant. It happened so quickly, so I don’t even know if there was much thought process. There were a couple offers, but once I head the Giants were interested, I was very interested as well.”

Vereen rushed for 391 yards and two touchdowns for the Patriots last season.

Broncos running back C.J. Anderson appeared to be giving it his all in last year's divisional round playoff game against the Colts. 

He ran for 80 tough yards on 18 carries in what ended up being a 24-13 loss. Looking back on it, Anderson is upset at himself that he didn't give more that game. 

"I was watching the playoff game last week and I left a lot out there. I left a lot out there," Anderson told the Broncos' official website. "A lot of people came to me and said, 'You played so hard. You did this.' Man, that was unacceptable. I had 24 touches and I didn't get in the end zone to help my team win."

Anderson will be in a new offensive system this year, which should actually benefit him even more. With Gary Kubiak as Denver's new head coach, the zone running scheme could open up even more lanes for the young runner. 

Anderson finished the 2014 regular season with 849 yards and eight touchdowns, with most of those over the last half of the season when he assumed the starting role. 

"You don't want to be a one-year wonder in this league, not at all," Anderson said. "No one wants to do that. I'm going to keep my head down, keep grinding every day and keep pushing. What happened last year happened last year. That's completely over and done with."

Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur revealed on Wednesday that the team plans to divide the backfield touches between free-agent signees DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, the Delaware County Daily Times reports.

"They’re two really fine players," Shurmur said at a coaches availability. "They’re two guys that have been starters in places that they’ve been and they’re going to come here and kind of share the role. I think that’s terrific that that’s their mindset. It shows us that you’ve got really, really fine players that understand it’s important to be a good teammate. Any time you can add good players to a unit you make yourself better because you need more than one to play the year."

Murray signed a five-year, $40-million contract after a breakthrough season with the Cowboys in 2014. Mathews, a former first-round pick, signed a three-year, $11-million deal after being plagued by injuries in 2014.

"As time’s gone on I think at running back, I really believe it takes a village," Shurmur said. "If you play the season you need one, two, three and maybe four guys. They’re a key part of what we do offensively. So to have a group that we feel has improved here in the offseason, now it’s just a matter of getting them all up to speed as quickly as we can so they can master what we’re doing."

Cowboys running back Joseph Randle had a very public back and forth with former teammate DeMarco Murray last week. Randle's coach Jason Garrett wants his guy to stop talking and start doing, per profootballtalk.com.

“We addressed that with Joe really immediately,” Garrett said. “I think sometimes comments like that get taken out of context or they are not really intended the way they come out. I think Joe has great respect for DeMarco as we all do. Joe did a good job with his opportunities. Joe and everyone else on our football team, we have to focus on what we do, not with what we say and I think he understands that. But the biggest thing is you need to focus on doing, not talking.”

Randle said Murray "left a lot of meat on the bone" last year, referring to the NFL's leading rusher giving up on certain runs roo early.

Randle rushed for 343 yards and three touchdowns last season, while Murray led the league with 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Cowboys running back Ryan Williams was not able to participate in Wednesday's OTA session because of swelling in his knee, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Williams has not played in a game since 2012.

Giants new running back Shane Vereen is receiving a surprising amount of work in OTAs as both a ball carrier and pass-catcher.

"So far, so good," he told ESPN. "I'm just trying to keep my feet on the ground and learn everything I can to stay on top of the playbook."

The free agent who signed after helping the Patriots win the Super Bowl is battling Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams for playing time out of the backfield. He has been used in practice as more than just a third-down back. And he has impressed Tom Coughlin.

"He's a vey positive young man who's happy to be here and looks forward to contributing," Coughlin said. "When we brought him in, we thought, 'Here's a guy that catches the ball out of the backfield and would be another obvious weapon that would have to be defended.'"

Vereen racked up 838 yards and five touchdowns combined rushing and receiving a year ago.