Marshawn Lynch's retirement could be the break Ray Rice needs to break back into the NFL.
The Seahawks running back tweeted a photo literally of hanging up his cleats, leaving little down about his intentions of leaving the NFL, according to NFL.com.
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Seahawks owner Paul Allen, quarterback Russell Wilson and cornerback Richard Sherman all responded to Beast Mode's tweet, thanking him for his career contributions, Pro Football Talk added.
Lynch's exit in February gives Rice almost six months to convince the Seahawks to give him a tryout. Seattle still has Thomas Rawls, which actually helps Rice's cause because he'll face no pressure to be the lead back as he tries to get back into the league and the Seahawks aren't handing the keys to the running game to a back who hasn't played in two years.
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The Seahawks had 34-year-old Fred Jackson and journeyman Christine Michael in their backfield as well, but neither showed himself to be able to pick up the slack if called upon to carry a bigger load.
Rice's hunger to return to the NFL is at an all-time high, and he knows he'll have to be better than good to give Seattle a reason to give him a tryout.
The 32 NFL teams have unofficially banished him, even though the Cowboys' Greg Hardy and the Browns' Johnny Manziel -- both linked to domestic violence incidents -- played in 2015.
Hardy's only hint of remorse was a tweet in November saying that he expressed "my regret 4 what happened in past and I'm Dedicated to being the best person & teammate that I can be," while Manziel had denied the allegations against him, stemming from one event during the season and one event that took place last week.
Rice has taken every opportunity to talk about his incident and has become an advocate for victims of domestic violence, which the Seahawks can present to any protesters that object to his signing.
It's worth a shot for Seattle, whose quarterback is one of the NFL's exemplary citizens in Wilson.
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