The Las Vegas Raiders offense was carried by two players last season: wide receiver DaVante Adams and running back Josh Jacobs. Both were named First Team All-Pros, but while Adams’ performance was par for the course and he is locked in for the future, Jacobs’ came out of nowhere and he remains with no long-term security for the time being.
Jacobs was a free agent this offseason, but the Raiders chose to use the franchise tag on the running back. The tag will pay Jacobs $10.09 million for the upcoming season after which he will be a free agent again if the two sides can’t come to an agreement on a long-term deal.
Jacobs has been open about his desire to come to an agreement and head coach Josh McDaniels is apparently in the same boat. In an interview with Tashan Reed of The Athletic, McDaniels expressed his hope for a long-term deal with his All-Pro running back, adding that the franchise tag will give them more time to do so:
I don’t want to speak for him. I mean, I respect every guy’s ability to feel a certain way. That’s their right. I wouldn’t try to talk for J.J. I can just talk about how I feel about him. And, obviously, he’s a guy that played an important role for us last year. We feel strongly about him as a player and as a person and, hopefully, for us, we can get something done long-term. That would be the goal. That’s why we did this. We didn’t franchise tag him just to franchise tag; we did it to give us an opportunity to have a longer time to work through this. And, hopefully, that’s what we’ll ultimately do.
Jacobs has certainly earned that contract he is seeking after leading the NFL with 1,653 rushing yards last season and if anything McDaniels and the Raiders coaching staff could have used him more. There were eight games in which Jacobs failed to total 20 carries which were unacceptable considering how successful he was all year long. Jacobs also set a new career-high with 400 receiving yards last season.
Nonetheless, the two sides have until July 17 to work out a new deal otherwise Jacobs will play out 2023 on that franchise tender and hit free agency again next year. Considering how important he has proven to be to this offense if McDaniels and the Raiders truly want to ensure he is here long-term, they will get a deal done before that deadline.
