Josh Jacobs‘ free agency featured several teams in on the former rushing champion. Half of the AFC West was interested, though that does not appear to include the Raiders.
After Jacobs said he did not meet with new Raiders GM Tom Telesco about re-signing, the sixth-year running back noted (via The Athletic’s Dan Pompei) he took the Packers’ four-year, $48MM offer back to his original team. The Raiders did not match, but Jacobs had said he would agree to stay for less than Green Bay’s offer if Las Vegas included incentives. Moving toward a setup with a much lower-cost backfield, the Raiders declined.
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This effort came after a few teams reached out to Jacobs’ camp with interest. The Broncos, Cardinals, Giants and Texans were previously mentioned as suitors, with Pompei adding the Dolphins and Bears also expressed some degree of interest. But the former first-round pick said the Chiefs also expressed interest. Some old-school animosity, even regarding a rivalry that probably peaked in the 1960s and early ’70s, factored into Jacobs’ decision to not reciprocate that interest.
“They were trying to get me hard,” Jacobs said of the Chiefs. “But there was no way I was going there. I feel like once you are rivals with somebody, you have a genuine hate for them. I couldn’t see myself in that color. And besides, I never wanted to be the guy that joined the dominant team. I want to be the guy that beats the dominant team.”
It is unclear if the Chiefs made an offer on par with the Packers’, but Green Bay’s proposal included just $12.5MM guaranteed at signing. The Packers traditionally do not include second-year guarantees for non-quarterbacks, though they would owe Jacobs a $5.93MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2025 league year. It represents a decent bet Jacobs is a Packer for at least two seasons, though the Chiefs’ pursuit is interesting given the makeup of their RB room.
Kansas City has starter Isiah Pacheco at seventh-round money for two more seasons, and the team re-signed Clyde Edwards-Helaire for just one year and $1.7MM. Kansas City did host J.K. Dobbins before the Edwards-Helaire recommitment, but the oft-injured ex-Raven agreed to a low-cost Chargers deal to reunite with Greg Roman. Kansas City has not spent much on running backs during the Andy Reid era. Reid coached Jamaal Charles for four seasons and signed off on a 2014 extension, but that only guaranteed the elusive RB…