Heading into Las Vegas Raiders training camp, one of the biggest stories to watch is Josh Jacobs’ contract situation.
Jacobs was recently in Las Vegas hosting the annual Hard Count Athletics Football Camp for local youth and caught up with Fox 5’s Paloma Villicana. The running back talked about how he’s “feeling great” this offseason and feels explosive in a video Villicana posted on Twitter.
Villicana also reported that “a source close to Jacobs” says that if he and the Raiders can’t come to an agreement on a long-term deal Monday, he won’t be attending training camp for a couple of weeks.
#Raiders RB Josh Jacobs tells me he’s “feeling great” this injury-free offseason, feeling “explosive.”
A source close to him has told me that if a deal isn’t made between the Raiders and Josh Jacobs by Monday at 1 p.m. Jacobs will not report to training camp. pic.twitter.com/BcnLY54iiu
— Paloma Villicana (@PalomaFOX5News) July 13, 2023
Raiders general manager and head coach Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels infamously declined the fifth-year option on Jacobs’ rookie deal before the 2022 season, essentially turning their backs on one year of “try it”. He won the career title and proved to be an integral part of the team’s offense, explaining 340 of the offense’s 428 rushing attempts (79.4 percent) and had more than 2,000 rushing yards with 12 total touchdowns.
That meant Jacobs had a big payday and forced Zielger and McDaniels to keep him close. The two sides couldn’t agree on a long-term contract extension before free agency began in March, so Las Vegas applied the $10.1 million franchise tag to the defending champion to buy some time and continue negotiations.
However, here we are four months later and no deal has yet been agreed while talks appear to have stalled. As of today, there hasn’t been much news on the situation and the only rumors that have been circulating are that Jacobs could sit out the 2023 season, as NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported .
Monday, July 17 at 1:00 PM PST is the NFL-mandated deadline for players who received the tag to reach a long-term deal with their club, hence Jacobs’ ultimatum. After that, unless the Raiders lift the tag, he can either play through the one-year, $10.1 million contract or continue to hold out.
Las Vegas can’t fine Jacobs for missing the field or any games, if it goes that far, since he’s not under contract. Essentially, the only thing I would be sacrificing is the aforementioned eight-figure salary. We’ll see if he ends up rejecting this.
