The Oakland Raiders made another bold move Tuesday, signing guard Richie Incognito. The Raiders clearly aren't shying away from splashy moves, but this one raised a lot of eyebrows.
Incognito worked out for the team a little while back and they were reportedly interested, so his signing wasn't that surprising. But Incognito is notorious for a string of off-field incidents, and not everyone is happy with the agreement. Raiders brass doesn't appear to care what anyone thinks, and new general manager Mike Mayock defended the signing to reporters.
When asked about Incognito's potential character issues, Mayock responded that “you can't have all boy scouts,” per Scott Bair of NBC Sports. It's a rather blunt assessment, but at least Mayock isn't denying that Incognito has had some issues.
Incognito, of course, was at the center of the league's bullying scandal surrounding Jonathan Martin a handful of years ago. He's also been accused of using racial slurs, although he later came to an understanding with Yannick Ngakoue, the player who accused him.
Over the past year he's also been arrested and placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold over a bizarre incident at a funeral home. But he's always been a very solid player, and it's a performance-based league, so it isn't shocking that someone decided to bit the bullet.
Incognito retired after the 2017 season, which he spent with the Bills. He soon announced his intention to un-retire, but no one signed him and he spent the entire 2018 season out of football. He made the Pro Bowl three straight years from 2015-17, and was one of the league's better guards for a while. But he's 35 now and just spent a year away from the game, so it's unclear how much he has left in the tank.
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