NFL insider reports Raiders’ “fair” number wasn’t enough to keep Josh Jacobs over Packers’ $48,000,000 deal

After spending five seasons in the NFL, Josh Jacobs will be sporting a new uniform for his sixth year as a professional player. This comes after he signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the Green Bay Packers. Despite the Las Vegas Raiders’ efforts to extend his contract, their offer was lower than what the Packers presented.

According to Vic Tafur, The Athletic’s Raiders beat writer, in his Mar. 29 mailbag article, the reason the 2022 First Team All-Pro member decided to join the Packers was due to the financial aspect.

“The Raiders made what they thought was a fair offer — and it was the second-best offer — but it wasn’t close to the Packers’ offer of $14.8 million guaranteed in Year 1 (and likely $23 million for two years).”

According to Spotrac, Jacobs’ contract with Green Bay, which was mentioned by Tafur, totals $14.8 million and consists of a $12.5 million signing bonus, a $1.2 million base salary, a $600,000 workout bonus, and a $382,343 roster bonus.

Despite the potential opt-out after the 2024 season, if Josh Jacobs continues to be a member of the team in 2025, he will receive a $5.93 million roster bonus in addition to his $1.17 million base salary. His potential earnings will further increase to $11.5 million in 2026 and $23.5 million in 2027.

Despite leading the league in rushing yards (1,653) the previous season, the Las Vegas Raiders have chosen to decline Jacobs’ fifth-year option for 2023, which was worth $8.034 million.

Despite this, he remained hopeful that Las Vegas would offer him a multi-year extension. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, he even sat with teammate Maxx Crosby at the Raiders’ facility, eagerly anticipating the possibility of securing another contract.

Regrettably, he was not signed before the deadline. However, the Raiders presented him with the franchise tag valued at $10.091 million. Eventually, both sides came to an agreement on a one-year contract worth $11.7 million in August.

Once again, he will collaborate with Rich Bisaccia, the Packers’ special teams coordinator and assistant coach. Following Jon Gruden’s resignation, Bisaccia served as the interim coach and guided the Raiders to the 2021 postseason.

The Packers Took Precautions in Structuring Josh Jacobs’ Contract

Despite being one of the top running backs in the league, the Green Bay Packers are proceeding with caution when it comes to Jacobs due to his quad injury that limited him to just 13 games last season. To make matters worse, he finished the season with career lows in both rushing yards (805) and touchdowns (six).

Despite Josh Jacobs’ progress towards full recovery, Green Bay remains uncertain about whether they will acquire the running back who has achieved three 1,000-yard seasons in his first four years in the NFL.

Therefore, the opt-out clause after one season ensures that they will not have to pay him a significant amount of money, even if they are not receiving adequate value in return.