NFL Rumors: Talks over Josh Jacobs and the Raiders’ contract “were dead” until the last days
It is said that until the final days before Monday’s deadline, the All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs and the Las Vegas Raiders were unable to come to an agreement on a long-term deal.
The Raiders and Jacobs were “dead in the water” with regard to contract negotiations, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, until this past weekend when they made a desperate attempt to reach an agreement.
Tafur compared Jacobs’ circumstances to those of Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram, who received $24 million guaranteed on a three-year contract, and implied that the Raiders and Jacobs never came close to reaching a deal.
The running back franchise tag for both this year and next year, or $22.3 million, would have been guaranteed to Jacobs in a similar contract, but the parties “never even got to that number.”
Jacobs’ alternatives are either to sign his franchise tender and play under the franchise tag in 2023 or to sit out and play no games this season, as Monday is the deadline for a long-term agreement.
After going over 1,000 yards rushing in each of his first two seasons, Jacobs—an Alabama product selected with the 24th overall choice in the 2019 NFL draft—dropped to 872 yards and averaged just 4.0 yards per carry in 2021.
Although there were significant doubts about how Josh McDaniels would use Jacobs in his first year as head coach in 2022—the Raiders chose not to exercise the fifth-year option in his contract—Jacobs went on to enjoy the greatest season of his career.
With 1,653 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, Jacobs set a career high while starting all 17 games. In addition, he caught 53 passes for 400 yards, a career best, and now has the most yards from scrimmage (2,053) in the league.
With a personal-best 4.9 yards per rush, Jacobs was selected for the first time as a first-team All-Pro and for the second time as a Pro Bowler. He also placed fifth in the Offensive Player of the Year voting.
As a result of everything, the Raiders franchised Jacobs for $10.091 million in order to keep him from leaving in free agency.
On Monday, both Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard and New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley found themselves in a same predicament as Jacobs, and neither of them was awarded long-term contracts.
Since he hasn’t signed the franchise tender, Jacobs is not required to attend to training camp and won’t be penalized if he doesn’t.
The most likely course of action may be to wait until the end of the preseason to sign before participating in Week 1, but it is not unheard of for players to wait until the end of the season in order to force a trade or gain power in contract discussions after the season.
Although Jimmy Garoppolo is a capable backup quarterback that the Raiders hired this offseason, he demonstrated during his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers that he performs best when he has a potent rushing game to support him.
The Raiders’ offense is arguably most dependent on Jacobs, and it is hard to see them winning a lot of games in 2023 without him.
