Josh Jacobs rumors: 5 trade destinations to free RB from Raiders

Could a Josh Jacobs trade be the end result of his Raiders contract dispute? Here are five trade destinations for the RB if we end up there.

At this point of the situation, it might be in the best interest of the Las Vegas Raiders to trade running back Josh Jacobs. No, it’s not necessarily going to help the team on the field to send away the NFL’s leading rusher from last season and a back with three 1,000-yard seasons in four years.

However, the situation in Vegas has reached an untenable point, it seems. Jacobs left the city ahead of Raiders training camp this past week as he plans to hold out. This comes after he and the organization were unable to agree upon a long-term contract and Jacobs has then refused to sign the franchise tag.

Jacobs won’t be fined while he holds out in training camp and, if and when he does return to the team, it will almost surely be his final season with the Raiders. So why not try to deal him in a year where contending seems a bit farfetched if you’re Las Vegas? More importantly, though, which teams would be willing to take the gamble on him and the $10.1 million franchise tag price?

Let’s take a look at five Josh Jacobs landing spots in a potential trade with the Raiders.

Note: All salary cap figures come courtesy of Over the Cap. All figures are as of July 27.

Josh Jacobs trade destination No. 5: Buffalo Bills

Bills cap space remaining: $5,324,611

Given the longstanding connection of the Buffalo Bills to Dalvin Cook, it stands to reason that they could also get into the Josh Jacobs trade market, should it materialize, as well. That’s only furthered by Nyheim Hines suffering a knee injury in a highly unfortunate jet ski accident that will keep him out for the 2023 season.

James Cook is set to step into the RB1 role in Buffalo with backup and former Patriot Damien Harris behind him. The team also signed former Titans draft pick Darrynton Evans in the wake of Hines’ injury.

For a potential Super Bowl contender like the Bills, though, they needed to make moves to take steps forward this offseason. They seemingly did so in the passing game by taking Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid in the first round of the draft, but the running game, you could argue, remains somewhat of a question mark for a team that has struggled to find consistent balance with Josh Allen in the offense.

Trading for Jacobs would obviously alleviate that tenfold, effectively putting James Cook into a more comfortable role in his second season while the Raiders running back assumes a more every-down role and relegates Harris to a backup role.

The lack of cap space for the Bills is concerning, but they do have some flexibility to restructure contracts to make more room. In terms of simply making their football team better, though, it’d be hard to argue against pursuing a Jacobs trade.