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.
Josh Jacobs trade destination No. 4: Philadelphia Eagles
Eagles cap space remaining: $13,867,023
It’s definitely been an offseason of shuffling the running back position for the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Miles Sanders departed in free agency while the Eagles inked former Seahawks first-round pick Rashaad Penny to a deal. Then, during the 2023 NFL Draft, Philly also pulled off a savvy move to trade a 2025 late-round pick to the Lions for D’Andre Swift, ostensibly paying pennies on the dollar for a former second-round pick who has been impressive when on the field.
Penny and Swift are expected to headline a running back room that also includes familiar Eagles faces Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. That’s a crowded group, without question. However, neither Gainwell nor Scott are viable top options in a rushing attack while both Penny and Swift have earned an injury-prone label over their young NFL careers to this point.
Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman has never shied away from making aggressive moves to improve his roster. And while he might have a glut of depth at running back right now, Josh Jacobs’ arrival would immediately give them their best option in the backfield.
The Eagles have the cap space available to make such a move, though it would severely limit any potential moves on the franchise tag number of $10.1 million for running backs. If it would mean that Philly could get over the hump and back to the Super Bowl, though, it might indeed be worth it.
Josh Jacobs trade destination No. 3: Chicago Bears
Bears cap space remaining: $34,784,635
Should anyone expect the Chicago Bears to contend in the 2023 season? Probably not. But should we expect the team to start taking steps forward, particularly on offense, with quarterback Justin Fields — at least hopefully for fans — taking a step forward in the best situation he’s seen since entering the NFL? Absolutely.
The Bears offseason has seen the team make notable improvements on both sides of the ball. The defense, on the defensive line and on the edge in particular, could still use some work before the Bears make a full leap into real contention, but they could very much flirt with a wild card berth if things go right.
Around Fields on the offense, they improved the right side of the offensive line by signing Nate Davis and drafting Darnell Wright. Chicago also landed D.J. Moore from Carolina in the trade for the first-overall pick then further improved the receiving corps by drafting a real sleeper deep threat in Tyler Scott in the fourth round.
For all of the improvements on the offense, though, the running back position leaves a bit to be desired. David Montgomery signed with the rival Lions in free agency, leaving the Bears with unproven Khalil Herbert, veteran D’Onta Foreman, and fourth-rounder Roschon Johnson as the top guys at the position.
Pairing Josh Jacobs with the rushing ability of Fields himself could creat real magic, though. Jacobs would be a clear upgrade over every player in the running back room currently and over Montgomery from last season as well — by a wide margin. Given that the Bears have the most remaining cap space in the NFL, they could be in the catbird seat to make this type of aggressive trade with the Raiders.
Josh Jacobs trade destination No. 2: Miami Dolphins
Dolphins cap space remaining: $13,476,430
Make no mistake, the Miami Dolphins don’t necessarily need to add to the running back room. The club re-signed Mike McDaniel favorites Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. this offseason in addition to still having Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed on the roster and then drafting speedy Devon Achane in the third round.
One thing that Dolphins fans will surely lament, though, is that Mostert and Wilson were seemingly always hurt last season, which then leaves some questions about the viability of the group behind them.
Miami has been one of the other teams heavily involved in the Dalvin Cook sweepstakes recently in the offseason. However, it seems that their offer to the former Vikings running back was either rebuffed or didn’t happen. And now the likely outcome is that the veteran signs with one of the Dolphins’ rivals in the AFC East.
Having said that, pivoting from Cook to a Josh Jacobs trade could be savvy business. For the productivity that Cook has shown in his career, the underlying numbers indicate that he’s started to be a less efficient and declining runner at the NFL level. That, of course, is not true of Jacobs after he comes off of leading the league in rushing.
Now taking that type of talent and adding it to McDaniel’s offense where running backs are given so much space based on formations and the threats of Tyreek Hill and Jayden Waddle on the outside can be quite dangerous. It’s an aggressive play, to be sure, but the Dolphins have big expectations and aspirations for the 2023 season that Jacobs could help them achieve.
Josh Jacobs trade destination No. 1: Minnesota Vikings
Vikings cap space remaining:$18,034,012
Admittedly, the optics of releasing Dalvin Cook, who has been incredibly productive throughout his career with the Minnesota Vikings, only to then trade for the $10.1 million salary of Josh Jacobs on the franchise tag would not be great.
Functionally it makes a great deal of sense, however.
Kirk Cousins is entering the final year of his contract with the Vikings and, as such, it appears that Minnesota is going to be trying to go for it this season. They’ve seemingly worked hard to improve the defense, most notably replacing defensive coordinator Ed Donatell with Brian Flores while shuffling out aging personnel, but the offense remains incredibly dangerous.
With that said, it’s hard not to be a bit concerned about Alexander Mattison stepping in as the RB1 following Cook’s release. While Mattison has been a fine stopgap and a longtime valuable handcuff in fantasy football, the underlying numbers also say that he doesn’t profile as an efficient every-down back.
Jacobs obviously does and, more importantly, he’d be in a similar situation to what he thrived in with the Raiders last season. The attention paid to Davante Adams in the Vegas offense last season aided Jacobs in having plenty of room to work out of the backfield, something that the Vikings could obviously replicate with Justin Jefferson — only with a superior offensive line to help further.
Given that the Vikings could be looking to go all-in at the 11th hour in order to make potentially one last push with Cousins at quarterback before Jefferson gets paid handsomely, then spending big on Jacobs on the trade market could be the final piece of that puzzle.