The Raiders were unable to come to a long-term contract agreement with All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs last week. Now, the NFL’s leading rusher is absent from training camp as he waits to sign the franchise tag. Once he does, he’ll play under the tag for $10.1 million this season.
However, the two sides did have some discussions before the July 17 deadline. Depending on who you listen to will tell you how closer they were to inking a deal.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, the Raiders offered Jacobs a deal above the franchise tag tender on a multi-year deal. “My understanding is that Josh Jacobs got an offer from the Raiders around $12 million per year,” according to Garafolo on a recent episode of the Rich Eisen Show.
Garafolo did not reveal how many years the potential deal would have been or how much money was guaranteed on the contract. As always, the devil is in the details with contract extensions.
The Raiders could tag Jacobs again next offseason and that would guarantee him around $12 million. However, it appears far more likely that the Raiders would let him hit free agency. Then, the Raiders could try to match an offer on the market or bring him back on another one-year deal.
The running back market is difficult to gauge right now with Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, and Jacobs all failing to agree to long-term deals on the franchise tag. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that this issue is going to be solved anytime soon for franchise running backs.
