Getty Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot on their plate right now trying to figure out the quarterback but they’ve got some other big decisions to make. Some key players are on expiring contracts and they need to decide which ones are worth keeping. The biggest name headed for free agency is running back Josh Jacobs.
The NFL’s leading rusher for 2022 is going to want to get paid. Head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler have a background of not paying running backs but they’ve also never had one as good as Jacobs. If Las Vegas doesn’t pay him, there will be other teams that are willing to. What works in the Raiders’ favor is that Jacobs doesn’t want to go elsewhere. He made it abundantly clear that he prefers to stay put.
“For me, I got the Raiders seal tatted on me,” Jacobs said on “Good Morning Football,” via Will Selva of NFL Network. “It’s always something I wanted to be a part of. I just bought a house in Vegas. It’s definitely a place that I want to be.”
Jacobs Doesn’t Want to Be Franchise Tagged
Jacobs clearly wants to stay. He’s not making the Raiders sweat too much. However, there’s no guarantee the team will actually give him a multi-year contract. There’s a strong possibility that the team uses the franchise tag on him. If that were to happen, Jacobs wouldn’t be happy. He gave a revealing response to the idea of the Raiders using the franchise tag to keep him.
“Oh, hero turned villain,” Jacobs said during media availability at the 2023 Pro Bowl games. “Hero turned villain, man.”
The last thing the Raiders need is for Jacobs to become a headache. He’s a team leader and one of their best players. Having him unhappy isn’t a recipe for success. He reiterated though that the goal is to stay in Las Vegas going forward.
“This is where I want to be,” Jacobs said. “I feel like I’ve left my mark on this organization. With the guys in the locker room — obviously, it’s going to be shaken up next year, but I feel like this is home. For me, this is where I want to be, but I’m not going to discredit myself trying to be here, either. So, it’s just got to make sense.”
I asked Josh Jacobs about not being named a Raiders team captain to start the season and he believes it was political 🤔 #RaiderNation @HeavyOnSports
Jacobs Isn’t Taking a Discount for a Losing Team
Jacobs has been with the Raiders for four years and has had one winning season. He was clearly frustrated at points during the year and had some strong words for the team after the Week 16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s not opposed to taking a home-team discount but he’s not taking a pay cut just to lose more games.
“Like I tell people, man, it’s one thing to be OK taking less money and stuff like that if you’re winning,” Jacobs said. “But s***, if you’re losing, they’re going to have to come correct. That’s just what it is.”
If the Raiders trade for a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers and make some other big moves, that would be a sign that they’re committed to competing for a Super Bowl. That might be enough to convince Jacobs to take a team-friendly deal.