The Las Vegas Raiders have less than a month now to reach an extension with running back Josh Jacobs, who was assigned the franchise tag ahead of free agency.
The two sides have until July 17 to agree to a multi-year deal. Otherwise, the options are a) for Jacobs to play under the $10.1 million franchise tag b) for Jacobs to sit out and ask for a trade or c) for the Raiders to rescind the franchise tag and thus make the reigning rushing champion a free agent.
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports gave his projections on where the top available running backs (free agents and via trade) will land. Benjamin predicts that the Raiders’ rivals, the Denver Broncos, will land Jacobs on a three-year deal worth $39 million:
“Here’s a curveball for you. We doubt the Raiders would prefer to trade their franchise player inside the division, but Denver’s new coach, Sean Payton, gushed about Jacobs earlier this offseason, paid decent money for starting RBs in New Orleans, and could use downhill insurance as Javonte Williams returns from injury, with newcomer Samaje Perine better suited for No. 2 duties. Las Vegas could simply rescind the franchise tag if it knows Jacobs is committed to netting a bigger deal elsewhere, allowing the Raiders’ quasi-Patriots regime to save an instant $10M and revert to a RB-by-committee approach.
Jacobs has crossed 1,000 yards rushing three times since his 2019 rookie year, including a league-high 1,653 in 2022. He would unquestionably make the Broncos’ offense that much better with new head coach Sean Payton calling the plays.
Payton made it work with just about any running back during his tenure with the New Orleans Saints, including Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and of course Alvin Kamara.
The Broncos had football’s worst offense in 2022 (16.9 points per game) despite the arrival of Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson. Though Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine headline a quality rushing duo, a player of Jacobs’ caliber could single-handedly take this offense to another level.
