Nearly three weeks after the window closed on a long-term deal and nearly two weeks after the Raiders opened camp without running back Josh Jacobs, nothing is happening between player and team on a potential one-year deal.
The options are limited at this point: (1) Jacobs accepts $10.1 million for one season; (2) Jacobs and the Raiders work out an enhanced deal, with more money and/or a promise that he won’t be tagged in 2024; (3) Jacobs skips all or part of the regular season; (4) the Raiders trade Jacobs and his one-year deal; or (5) the Raiders rescind the franchise tender and he becomes a free agent.
Option 5 could still happen. Whether the goal is to get the fans/media on board or to persuade owner Mark Davis that it’s the right move to pocket $10.1 million and move on, the Raiders quite possibly are setting the table to plausibly say, “Well, we’ve tried everything. Let’s let him go.”
Jacobs, we’re told, is aware of the possibility and unconcerned about it. He knows that $10.1 million won’t be there, if he’s suddenly a free agent in late August or early September.
But he would still have a plan. He would be inclined to take the best deal he could get from a contending team, starting with the Chiefs.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Chiefs and Broncos are among the teams interested in Jacobs. And while the Broncos could be a considerable way from contender status, they’d be an option at the right price.
The Chiefs make the most sense, and create the most intrigue. Jacobs would become a new-age Marcus Allen, securing freedom from the Raiders and heading straight for their traditional arch rivals.
Regardless, Jacobs’s strategy is driven not by maximizing his pay in 2023 but by standing on principle. He continues to be upset that the Raiders failed to pick up his fifth-year option and then failed to make him a meaningful offer on a long-term deal after applying the franchise tag.
The overriding vibe from the Raiders to Jacobs is that they want to go year-to-year under the tag, keeping him up to two more seasons before he’s left to hit the open market with six seasons of NFL wear and tear.
There’s still a chance he’ll be on the open market after only four years — and that he’ll impact the ever-shifting balance among the top-heavy AFC.