After being unable to see eye-to-eye with the Las Vegas Raiders brass in NFL free agency during the offseason, veteran running back Josh Jacobs chose to test the market and ultimately landed with the Green Bay Packers, where he eventually replaced Aaron Jones who was surprisingly released by the storied franchise.
Although Jacobs wasn’t happy with how contract talks went with the Raiders as he didn’t feel valued or wanted in Las Vegas, the veteran back wouldn’t stab the team in the back after spending his entire NFL career with the franchise. Jacobs recently let it be known that the division-rival Kansas City Chiefs were interested in signing him in free agency, but he wasn’t having it.
In a recent interview with Don Pompei of The Athletic, Jacobs shed some light on what happened in free agency with the Raiders ready to move on and other teams like the Chiefs going after him, as there was no way he was going to sign with a team to had grown to despise.
“They were trying to get me hard,” he said. “But there was no way I was going there. I feel like once you are rivals with somebody, you have a genuine hate for them. I couldn’t see myself in that color. And besides, I never wanted to be the guy that joined the dominant team. I want to be the guy that beats the dominant team.”
Even though Jacobs is continuing his NFL career with the Packers after spending his first five years in the league with the Raiders, he showed some loyalty in refusing to sign with the Chiefs, which will put a smile on the faces of the diehard fans of the Silver and Black.
With Jacobs moving on to Green Bay, the Raiders will move forward with Zamir White as their starting running back, who has received some high praise throughout the offseason, which bodes well for a solid 2024 NFL season for the promising young back.
Josh Jacobs Opens Up About Leaving the Raiders
Despite being arguably one of the elite running backs in the NFL, Josh Jacobs struggled to prove that the Las Vegas Raiders should re-sign him in NFL free agency, with an offer that made it easy for the two-time Pro Bowler to leave the team and sign with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent.
Jacobs admits that he wanted to return to Las Vegas on a lucrative long-term deal, but the Raiders brass weren’t budging in contract negotiations, so heading elsewhere seemed inevitable.
