The Las Vegas Raiders made some moves this offseason, but they also lost some key players. One of the biggest names to depart was running back Josh Jacobs, who would join the Green Bay Packers on a four-year, $48 million deal.
While Jacobs struggled with injury this past season, the prior year, he was a First-Team All-Pro and led the NFL in rushing yards. Jacobs and the Raiders were unable to work out a new deal following that season, and the back played last year on the franchise tag.
But despite all of that, Jacobs still wanted to return to the Raiders in free agency, however, he told Scott Thompson of Fox News Digital that he didn’t feel the team really wanted him back:
“Ultimately, I wanted to come back,” Jacobs told Fox News Digital after representing USAA alongside the Milwaukee Fire Department on Tuesday, where he learned about home fires and staying safe with the holiday weekend coming up. “I wanted to go back, but when we were having negotiations, and they made their decision, it made my decision pretty easy honestly.”
That decision was reportedly the Raiders not wanting to match the $12 million per year offer the Packers gave Jacobs. Once it became clear they weren’t willing to match, Jacobs made the decision to move on. And something Jacobs believes he will get in Green Bay that he didn’t see with the Raiders is stability:
“I would say one of the main reasons was just the certainty of what I’m gonna get,” he explained. “There’s already a lot of structure, there’s already a lot of stuff in place. Having another new head coach over there [in Las Vegas], my fourth head coach while I was there, I never felt like there was any stability.
“Just to be able to come into a place where you’re not trying to pick up the pieces, and you’re not trying to build it out and see what works for us. We know what works, we’re basically just trying to execute the game plan. I think that’s the biggest difference.”
There have definitely been a lot of changes at high levels going on within the Raiders organization, but the franchise has worked to change that and hopefully now has that structure in place with Tom Telesco running the front office and Antonio Pierce as head coach.
Ultimately, Jacobs had to make the best decision for himself, and the Raiders did what they felt was best for their franchise moving forward.
Gardner Minshew believes Raiders offense has a chance to be ‘very special’
The loss of Josh Jacobs will be felt, but the Raiders feel confident in their running game, adding veteran Alexander Mattison to backup Zamir White who showed a lot of promise last year after Jacobs got hurt.
And that run game, along with the addition of rookie tight end Brock Bowers pairing with Michael Mayer, an improved offensive line, not to mention star receiver Davante Adams and an excellent number two in Jakobi Meyers and the Raiders’ offense, has serious potential.
Quarterback Gardner Minshwe certainly believes so as he recently spoke on it as well. Minshew noted that with all of the weapons and new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy putting people in the right positions, this offense has the chance to be ‘very special’ in 2024.
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