Running back Josh Jacobs and the Green Bay Packers agreed to a four-year, $48 million deal on Monday. The 2022 NFL rushing champion will arrive in Green Bay as the replacement for Aaron Jones, who was officially released after seven seasons.
What does the Jacobs contract look like for the Packers? For starters, Jacobs is getting a $12.5 million signing bonus, and he’ll make $14.8 million in the first year of the deal.
Ken Ingalls, who tracks the Packers salary cap, pieced together the contract structure and details:
Josh Jacobs contract details: pic.twitter.com/ZssMb9dt06
— Ken Ingalls – Packers Cap 💰 (@KenIngalls) March 12, 2024
The Packers kept base salaries low in Years 1 and 2, prorated the signing bonus across four years and piled money in the base salaries in Years 3 and 4 to help keep Jacobs’ early cap numbers low, especially in 2024. Jacobs will count less than $5.5 million on the Packers’ cap this year.
Jacobs has a $5.93 million roster bonus due in 2025. Given the structuring, this looks like nothing more than a one-year deal with a second-year team option. The only guaranteed money in the contract is the signing bonus, and $22.4 million of the $48 million in total value is in base salaries in 2026 and 2027.
If Jacobs is good in 2024, the Packers can convert his roster bonus in 2025 into a signing bonus to lower his cap number and push money into the future. Even if Jacobs is good again in 2025, the high base salaries in 2026 and 2027 will give the Packers salary cap options — either in terms of restructures or pay cut opportunities.
If Jacobs isn’t good in 2024, the Packers can release him as early as 2025 — before his roster bonus hits — and save money on the cap. By 2026, the potential savings skyrocket to over $8 million.
Jacobs also has over a $1 million in per-game and workout bonuses available each year of the contract.
All things considered this looks like a good deal for the Packers. They are getting a top running back replacement at one-third the salary cap cost of Jones in 2024, although Jones’ dead cap of over $12 million must be considered. And with only a signing bonus tied in as guaranteed money, the Packers are hardly strapped to the Jacobs contract long term. For all intents and purposes, the Packers signed Jacobs — who is 26 and just one year removed from leading the NFL in rushing — to a manageable, cost-effective, two-year deal.
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