Running back Josh Jacobs has already missed the Raiders offseason program and mandatory minicamp as he pursues a long-term pact, and he could extend his unofficial holdout into the regular season. During an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero hinted that Jacobs could sit out part of the regular season if he doesn’t get a new deal.
[RELATED: Raiders Not Closing Door On Josh Jacobs Extension]
“The one [running back situation] that nobody’s talking about is Josh Jacobs,” Pelissero said (h/t to CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan). “At this point, if there’s not a long-term deal, I don’t anticipate Josh Jacobs being there at the start of training camp and I don’t know that he shows up Week 1.”
Jacobs was slapped with the franchise tag earlier this offseason, locking him into a guaranteed $10.1MM salary for next season. Since Jacobs hasn’t signed his franchise tag, he wouldn’t face any penalties for missing training camp or preseason games. If he sits out regular season games, he would lose checks for each contest missed.
Jacobs and the Raiders have until July 17 to negotiate a long-term deal. As a result of that deadline, any hypothetical Jacobs holdout wouldn’t do anything to help his case for signing a long-term pact in 2023. The running back could point to preserving future earnings as a reason for sitting out regular season games, but running backs like Le’Veon Bell and Melvin Gordon struggled to recoup their value when they followed a similar mindset.
It’s not a surprise that Jacobs is trying to grasp at the little leverage he has as we get closer to that July 17 deadline. Jacobs has previously talked of taking a stance for future running backs, and he’s also hinted at “bad business” coming from the Raiders organization. The threat of a holdout probably won’t be enough to make the Raiders front office blink, but if the two sides don’t agree to a long-term deal, the organization at least has to prepare for a potential Jacobs absence.
We heard earlier this week that the Raiders wanted to lessen Jacobs’ workload in 2023 while expanding the roles of 2022 draftees Zamir White and Brittain Brown. White got into 14 games as a rookie, collecting 70 total yards from scrimmage. Brown got into six games as a rookie but exclusively played on special teams.
Vikings or Bucs should sign him
He is gonna regret it when Zamir White fills in and foes really well.
Its just the reality in the league.
This isn’t going to end well for him.
They declined his 5th year option. Then ran him into oblivion last season. Now they franchise tagged him and refuse to pay him (so far) a new contract, while threatening to feature Zamir White more regularly….Good lord they’ve done him wrong and I’m a Dawg fan who likes Zamir, sheesh!
Unfortunately that is what the RB position has become. Use and abuse them and go on to the next one, because there is always a next one.
Honestly. Take the money and run. Literally and figuratively.
10 mill is more than most backs got this offseason.
I get it. Job security and stuff. But 10 mill sets you up pretty nicely in life if you play your cards right. That and you can always fall back on coaching somewhere- college or pros.
Zahir White won’t put up 1/2 the number Jacobs can. Can he even run routes, not fumble, and pass block?
“Jacobs has previously talked of taking a stance for future running backs”.
In other words, he has plans to be a comedian if his football career fails.
This guy became famous for being dirt poor, sleeping on the ground & in cars, right? Now he’s thinking on passing on $10m guaranteed? Foolish.
I’m rooting for Jacobs to get his money, after they declined his option, then ran him into the ground last year. But he doesn’t have Barkley’s leverage. The Giants have pressure to win and they know they can’t win without Barkley. The Raiders know they aren’t winning, with or without Jacobs. Josh Jacobs better sign that tag and get that 10 million in the bank before he regrets it.
KC benched their 1st round RB for the SB in favor of a 6th-7th round pick. G-men and Raiders can easily dump these guys and get a 1,000+ yard running back for half the cost. Proven every year.
Jacobs is a solid back who was spectacular in 2022. Even with that – the Raiders didn’t translate that to wins. Historically backs that carry the ball that much get injured the following season. Factor in 2 young backs with potential, the fact that the current brain(?) trust of the Raiders have a history of a RB by committee – and I really don’t know what Jacobs expects. 3 years $39M with $24ish guaranteed seems fair but I’ve heard that he is wanting 15-16 per year and that isn’t going to happen.
Sitting out a year historically doesn’t work well for the player especially RB’s.
I’d like to see Jacobs back with the Raiders but it has to make sense for the team. These 2 geniuses don’t have an issue with getting rid of Pro Bowl players so nothing is set in stone. And $10.08M is a lot of dough.
It’s becoming apparent the NFL needs to address the problems inherent in someone being designated the franchise player.
I would suggest they tie that label to a salary cap exception, i.e., that year’s franchise player salary doesn’t count against the team’s cap.
This has a number of advantages for both sides: a) the team can sign an expensive star and avoid crippling the rest of the team, b) Other players get a bigger slice of the cap money as it isn’t all going to pay the star, c) the biggest stars aren’t limited by how much they can make.