Raiders Rumors: NaVorro Bowman, Oakland Have 'Strong Mutual Interest'

Free-agent linebacker NaVorro Bowman and the Oakland Raiders have "strong mutual interest," according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, with Bowman likely to visit with the team in the next few days.

Bowman, 29, was released by the San Francisco 49ers on Friday.

The veteran linebacker has registered 38 tackles in five games this season. But the Niners began limiting Bowman's snaps, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com, a fact that didn't sit well with him.

After Bowman made it known publicly he'd prefer to be traded if he wasn't going to be a three-down player, the Niners attempted to trade him before ultimately releasing him. The team reportedly had an agreement in place to send him to the New Orleans Saints for a seventh-round pick, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, but Bowman preferred to be a free agent so he could pick his destination and the Niners granted him the request.

"When Kyle [Shanahan] and I came into this, we said we knew that we would have to make tough decisions, if they were in the best interests of our team," general manager John Lynch said. "We felt like this was. We had a good, I think, honest and fruitful conversation with NaVorro. We left in a good place."

When healthy, Bowman has been one of the best middle linebackers in football, with 140 or more tackles in four seasons. But he missed all of 2014 with a torn ACL, MCL, PCL and meniscus, while an Achilles injury cost him 12 games last year.

As for the Raiders, the team saw starting linebackers Marquel Lee (ankle) and Cory James (knee) leave Week 5's game, leaving an already shaky positional group perilously thin, though James practiced Thursday.

Bowman would provide the Raiders with some much-needed depth, at the very least, and potentially represent an upgrade at the position.