NFL rumors: Raiders not giving up on keeping Josh Jacobs just yet

Raiders running back Josh Jacobs is holding out of training camp after failed contract talks, but the Las Vegas front office isn’t giving up on him yet. 

While it appears that Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is now the posterchild for the NFL‘s ongoing debate about running back contracts, Josh Jacobs has remained notably absent from Las Vegas Raiders training camp as he continued his holdout.

The Raiders placed the franchise tag on Jacobs earlier in the offseason with many believing they would work on a long-term deal with the former first-round pick. That, however, did not happen. Unlike the Giants with Saquon Barkley, though, Jacobs and Vegas have not reached a deal for the 2023 season and, with the running back not signing the tag, he’s skipping camp without being fined.

There has been plenty of speculation that this could lead to the Raiders ultimately trading Jacobs. But in the front office, there appears to be another plan in motion — or at least an attempt at one.

According to CBS Sports insider Josina Anderson, the Raiders front office is “open” to getting back to the negotiating table with Jacobs in hopes to get him to join the team in training camp and, obviously, in the regular season as well.

NFL rumors: Raiders want to reopen Josh Jacobs contract talks amid holdout

This could be a tricky situation for the Raiders to navigate, if that wasn’t already clear.

When there was similar drama in New York with Barkley, it was seemingly quickly resolved when the running back signed a one-year, $11 million deal with a $2 million signing bonus for the 2023 season.

If that was the type of deal that Vegas was willing to offer Jacobs and if Jacobs would also be content with signing a pact worth only slightly more than the $10.1 million tag for running backs, you have to imagine those discussions would’ve already happened — though the two sides not speaking might have caused a roadblock there.

Futhermore, Jacobs truly has no real incentive to come to training camp with any kind of haste. He risks injury and the rigors of practice while he can continue his holdout without incurring any fines. That seems like an ideal situation for him with all of the leverage on his side.

We’ll have to see if Jacobs and the Vegas front office indeed end up restarting contract talks. It’s clear the Raiders aren’t ready to give up on him yet. It’s less apparent if Jacobs feels the same.