Originally published by RaidersNewswire.com
The July 17 deadline for franchised players to agree to long-term contracts has passed and the Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs was unable to come to an agreement on a new deal.
Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard and Jacobs were the three running backs who received the franchise tag but did not come to terms on a long-term contract. The trio will now have to play out the 2023 season on the franchise tender worth a little north of $10 million, though Jacobs and Barkley have yet to sign.
It’s the outcome that Raiders fans feared as the team and Jacobs’ seemed far apart in talks throughout the offseason. Jacobs sent cryptic messages the past few months hinting at his displeasure with the situation, and now it’ll spill into the regular season.
Making things even more dramatic was the fact that Jacobs was actually on-site at the Las Vegas practice facility ready to sign a new deal if the numbers were close enough via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network:
How close was Josh Jacobs to signing an extension with the #Raiders?
He was sitting in a car in the parking lot of the #Raiders facility with teammate Maxx Crosby at the deadline, ready to sign if it got done.
It didn’t, and now it’s unclear when the rushing champ will return. pic.twitter.com/Ex1JzR1QOt
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 17, 2023
The earliest the Raiders can begin re-negotiating with Jacobs on a potential deal is the 2024 offseason, though it remains to be seen if he’ll even want to stick around after this saga. There’s no denying that losing Jacobs would be a blow to the Las Vegas offense considering the options behind Jacobs on the depth chart.
Now, there are four options for Jacobs and his camp to take going forward. Jacobs could either sign the one-year franchise tag, refuse to sign the tag and sit out portions or all of training camp before coming back for the regular season, refuse to sign the tag and sit out all of training camp and a portion of the regular season, or decline the tag altogether and sit out the entirety of the 2023 season.
With only so many options at their disposal, it’ll be interesting to see if Jacobs decides to forfeit game checks in the hopes of preserving himself for a lucrative deal the following offseason. Only time will tell, but it feels like the relationship between the Raiders and Jacobs is on its last legs.
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