Josh Jacobs returns to Raiders facility after signing deal
Josh Jacobs is officially back in the building for the Las Vegas Raiders after quite the dramatic offseason.
Like several of the NFL’s other well-known running backs, Jacobs held out this summer as he waited for an appropriate long-term deal. That offer never came and instead the Raiders chose to franchise tag him.
Well, Jacobs wasn’t pleased with the one-year offer worth roughly $10 million and refused to be apart of the team at that number. Eventually, Las Vegas and Jacobs both made concessions as the RB agreed to just a one-year deal while the Raiders agreed to raise his salary to $12 million.
Now, the star playmaker is back in the building. Take a look at his homecoming:
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Josh Jacobs had a monster season for Las Vegas a year ago, setting a new career-high with 1,653 yards to go with 12 touchdowns. He didn’t report for camp despite getting the franchise tag, but it now appears he’ll be ready to go when the Raiders kick off the season in a couple weeks.”
Jacobs didn’t sign his franchise tag, which was worth $10.1 million, and hasn’t participated in camp or in preseason games. But optimism was growing about his potential return in time for Week 1, and his new contract will allow him to be on the field for the season opener against the Denver Broncos.
And the deal was historic for the NFL. According to NBC Sports, it’s the first time in the three-decade history of the franchise tag that a team has upped the base salary offer in final negotiations. Saquon Barkley, overall, also will receive more money than the franchise tag. But the Giants didn’t increase the base salary. Rather, they increased the one-year offer with incentives.
“This is the National Football League,” Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said, “so it’s not easy to go out there and just play games and do it at the speed and level that you want to do it at, unless you’ve really kind of had enough opportunity to get yourself ready to do that.”
“Whether it be J.J. or somebody else, it’s the same thing,” McDaniels added. “Everybody’s gotta have an opportunity to do that, to get re-acclimated to the pace, the speed of things.”