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As CSNBayArea.com put it: "Derek Carr is getting another weapon." And fantasy owners will once again get their hopes up -- perhaps unrealistically -- for one of the NFL's most athletically-gifted players.

This after free-agent wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson has signed a deal with the Raiders, the team announced Monday evening. The contract is good for two years. Patterson is able to void the deal after a year, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Patterson, an established threat as a kickoff return man, told NFL.com's Conor Orr in January that his next destination would have to promise him a role within the offense as well -- something the Vikings struggled to do over Patterson's first four seasons. In 2016 he caught 52 balls for 453 yards and two touchdowns -- his best year since 2013 when he caught 45 passes for 469 yards and four touchdowns.

"Two years I spent damn near on the sideline," Patterson said. "That's never a good feeling for any player. No player wants to go through that," he said. "I need to know if I'm going to play or not. If not, I'll take my talents elsewhere."

Orr noted that Patterson will be an instant upgrade over promising young running back Jalen Richard, who handled a majority of Oakland's kick and punt returns a year ago. Patterson has returned a total of 134 kickoffs for 4,075 yards and five touchdowns.

But will he find some field time next to Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper?

Both were targeted more than 130 times by Carr a year ago with the next highest wide receiver, Seth Roberts, seeing 77 passes.

As Orr went on to point out, Patterson being a jack of all trades within Oakland's high-flying offense is enticing, but Minnesota tried just about everything over the past four seasons to make it work and failed.

But there were flashes last season, when Patterson seemed to find a role in the Vikings' offense with Pat Shurmur taking over as the coordinator. Patterson’s average of 2.08 yards after contact per catch was 20th in the league.

It appeared Shurmur understood that Patterson, who only turns 26 next month, is at his best when he given opportunities to be explosive. Perhaps the Raiders will take a cue from Shurmur's approach and make a concerted effort to maximize Patterson's athleticism by getting him the ball as quickly as possible rather than asking him to do something he doesn't do well: Run routes.

Bubble screens, jet sweeps and reverses all play into Patterson's strengths.

I'm not suggesting that's sufficient to get Patterson on your draft-day radar. But he's joining an ascendant offense and his ability to threaten opposing defenses is clearly of interest in Oakland.

In flashes, we've seen what Patterson is capable of, and it seems like enough to motivate Jack Del Rio into giving him a shot.