The Las Vegas Raiders entered the first season under coach Josh McDaniels with some personnel-related questions.
For starters, most analysts predicted they would part ways with RB Josh Jacobs.
The Raiders didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, yet they refused to shop him despite their disappointing season.
Jacobs wound up having the best campaign of his career, even forcing the most missed tackles in a single season (90), two more than the legendary Marshawn Lynch in 2014.
Most missed tackles forced on runs in a regular season:
2022 Josh Jacobs – 90
2014 Marshawn Lynch – 88 pic.twitter.com/19aMJUp0Uf— PFF (@PFF) January 11, 2023
Now, Jacobs is due for a big payday, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent that’ll gauge plenty of attention in the market.
That’s why the Raiders are no longer a priority or at the top of his list.
They’ll have to compete just like everybody else and, as much as he’d love to come back, they’ll have to meet his financial expectations:
“For me, it’s got to make sense,” Jacobs said of the offer, according to Bolavip. “But this is obviously where I want to be. Coming in, I remember sitting down with [defensive end] Maxx [Crosby] and all these guys and talking about the Raiders organization and the culture and wanting to be part of the change. I still feel that way so, hopefully, I’ll be back.”
The Raiders have done a terrible job of keeping their draft picks throughout the past couple of years.
That’s why they simply cannot afford to let yet one of their best players walk away for nothing, especially after he was one of the few bright spots in their offense.
