Las Vegas Raiders start training camp without Josh Jacobs

The Las Vegas Raiders have held their first two training-camp practices without running back Josh Jacobs, and coach Josh McDaniels doesn’t know when the NFL’s 2022 rushing leader will be back with the team.
Las Vegas used its franchise tag to prevent Jacobs from becoming a free agent in March. The deadline for the team and ball-carrier to work out a multi-year deal to replace the franchise-tag tender passed last week with no resolution.
The former Alabama standout did not sign the franchise-tag tender, which would have paid him $10.091 million for the 2023 season, skipped the Raiders’ entire offseason program and now isn’t at training camp.
“I respect every player’s right to try to do what’s best for them,” McDaniels said on Tuesday. “That’s why the league is what it is in terms of value and contracts, and those things are personal. We all have to go through them. I understand it.
“I’ve said it multiple times this spring: I respect him tremendously. I have a great deal of respect for him as a player, as a person, what he did for our team last year, and I look forward to seeing him whenever he is here. And I respect that process, too. It’s his decision to make. They all have to do what they think is best for them. Like I said, we all have to do those things in our lives, and I have a great deal of respect for him.”
NFL teams used the franchise tag on three running backs this offseason. None of the players was able to work out a long-term contract before the July 17 deadline.
Tony Pollard signed his franchise tender from the Dallas Cowboys and will play the 2023 season for $10.091 million.
Saquon Barkley did not sign his tender from the New York Giants and, like Jacobs, seemed at an impasse. But Barkley didn’t miss a training-camp practice after New York adjusted the franchise-tag offer this week to include $909,000 in incentives, which could make the contract worth $11 million, and agreed to pay $2 million of the money as an immediate signing bonus.
After the deadline, a team can offer only a one-year contract to a franchise-tagged player.
“I had an epiphany,” Barkley said on Thursday. “... The reality of it is, one, I kind of just followed my heart. Obviously, I heard what everyone was saying in the news, on social media, but I kind of just followed my heart. And then you’ve got to look at it as a business point, from a business view. I felt like: What’s the best thing that I can do? Some people may agree or disagree with this – to sit out or sit in -- and I feel like for this year specifically, the best thing that I can do for myself would be coming back, going out there and playing the game that I love, playing for my teammates, doing something that I wanted to do since I was a little kid.
“Obviously, I know what’s going on with the running-back situation and me being tagged, and the value of the running back continually going down. The only way that I feel like that’s going to change is someone’s got to make it change. God-willing, hopefully, I can be one of those people to do it.”
In Las Vegas, McDaniels sounded as though the Raiders had no such surprise coming with Jacobs this week.
“I know (general manager) Dave (Ziegler) and Tom (Delaney, the director of football administration) worked feverishly with his representation last week to do what they could,” McDaniels said. “Again, I’ve said before I respect his decision to ultimately not sign a deal at that point, so, right now, it is what it is. There hasn’t been much since the deadline. Certain things can change, obviously. We know that. But, obviously, that’s a lot of his decision, and whatever he chooses to do, that’s his choice. I look forward to seeing him when we see him.”
Now the stalemate question becomes: Will it last into the season?
The Raiders kick off the 2023 campaign against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 10. Before then, Las Vegas has preseason games against the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 13, Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 19 and Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 26.
“I’m a coach,” McDaniels said about Jacobs’ absence. “I’d love to have every one of them here.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.