The Las Vegas Raiders surprised the NFL world during the Hall of Fame Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars when Josh Jacobs, who started running back, played a few drives and scored a whopping seven touches in the exhibition game.
Starters don’t play much – if at all – in this special preseason game, leading to some speculation about Jacobs’ future. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Raiders’ top running back is not on the trading bloc, saying the team “has no plans” to trade him.
New Raiders Head Coach Josh McDaniels tried to explain why Jacobs played more than expected last Thursday night, saying he wanted his backs to experience real game action.
“I always think it’s good for full-backs to carry the ball in the preseason,” McDaniels said after the game. “A lot of things happen when you get tackled and hit that you can’t simulate in practice. I think all our guys had the ball tonight. I think all our guys caught the ball or got the ball and had to tackle We can’t really simulate or represent that in practice.”
The number 24 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft from Alabama comes from a season in which he recorded 1,220 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns. However, the team declined to take up its option for the fifth year, meaning Jacobs will be a free agent next season.
Rapoport makes a good argument as to why the Raiders have no intention of trading back their top. First off, he’s their obvious starter, but he’s also coming very cheap in 2022 as his base salary is $2.12 million, per Spotrac. It is true that the Raiders have several other running backs who will be touched such as Brandon Bolden, Ameer Abdullah and rookie Zamir White, but Jacobs is the one with the most experience as a starter in this organization.
What happens to Jacobs next season will certainly be something to watch, but Vegas reportedly has no intention of leaving him at this point.