Getty Las Vegas Raiders RB Josh Jacobs.
The Las Vegas Raiders and star running back Josh Jacobs have failed to agree on a long-term contract, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport. The team placed the franchise tag on Jacobs back in March and had until July 17 to reach a long-term contract.
With that deadline now passed, the two sides cannot negotiate a new contract until the 2023 regular season ends. It’s unclear what Jacobs was looking for and what the Raiders were willing to offer him, but according to a July 15 report from Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the two sides were not close on agreeing to contract figures.
Based on what Jacobs is saying, he wasn’t looking for anything massive. The running back responded to a tweet from Kenny King Jr. that suggested the Raiders didn’t want to reset the running back market. Jacobs made it clear that he wasn’t trying to reset the market.
@KennyKing_Jr We never tried to reset the market
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is making the most of any player at the position with $16 million a year, per Over the Cap. It appears that Jacobs wasn’t looking to exceed that number but the Raiders still weren’t interested. Rapoport did report that there were “extensive negotiations,” but it remains to be seen what Las Vegas’ final offer was.
Josh Jacobs Likely to Sit out of Training Camp
Josh Jacobs has not signed the franchise tag tender so while he is under Raiders’ control, he’s not technically under contract. This means that he has no obligation to show up to training camp. The Raiders cannot fine him for not coming. He also isn’t required to play in preseason games.
According to a July 17 tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jacobs is “not expected to report to training camp with the rest of his team.”
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley also didn’t sign his franchise tag tender and likely won’t be at training camp. There’s no reason for Jacobs to participate in practice if he isn’t under contract. When things will get real for him is at the beginning of the regular season. While the team still can’t fine him for missing regular season games, they also don’t have to pay him the $10.1 million salary he makes while on the franchise tag.
Will Josh Jacobs Play This Season?
It’s logical for Josh Jacobs not to participate in training camp. There’s no penalty for him to take the extra time off. However, things will get much more interesting once the season closes in. Jacobs stands to lose a lot of money if he doesn’t play. His annual salary was $2.98 million throughout his first four years in the league.
While the franchise tag is not ideal, he will still make $10.1 million guaranteed, which is just slightly less than what he made his first four combined. The fact of the matter is that Jacobs can’t even negotiate a long-term deal with the Raiders until after the season so sitting out regular season games won’t push the team to actually make anything happen. It would simply be a protest. The Raiders could always rescind the franchise tag and let Jacobs test the market, but as seen with Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Cook and Tony Pollard, there isn’t a strong market for running backs right now. Jacobs’ best option is to sit out training camp but show up for Week 1 and hope that he can actually get a long-term deal next offseason.