Las Vegas Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler spoke highly of running back Josh Jacobs this week. With the NFL Owner’s Meeting providing tons of insight into what’s going on with the team, one topic of conversation was Jacobs and his future. However, Ziegler wasn’t the only one with some noteworthy things to say about No. 28. Everyone’s saying the right thing, but will Jacobs get a long-term deal? Or is he destined to play under the franchise tag with a cloudy future past 2023?
As far as what the boss of the Raiders had to say, Ziegler sat down with Tashan Reed of The Athletic where he discussed the matter of a contract for Jacobs.
“I’d say we’ve been working through this free agency thing and so you have that time period where you can have some more of those conversations and things of that nature. So, we’ll have some more of those conversations. I wouldn’t say we’ve had a ton of them while we’ve been working through the free agency piece, but we’ll have some more of those conversations, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Ziegler has certainly been busy this free agency period. However, many Raiders fans have mixed feelings about the job he’s done so far. One of the first moves that the Raiders made this offseason was placing the franchise tag on Jacobs. Still, that doesn’t mean much after this upcoming season. Raider Nation is split between giving Jacobs a large deal or letting him walk in the future. Teams that spend heavily on running backs rarely see a justifiable return. The fact is, it’s an expendable position. Ziegler himself admitted that there hasn’t been much movement as far as securing Jacobs’s services beyond this year’s tag.
Raiders owner Mark Davis certainly thinks highly of Josh Jacobs
Despite not having a long-term deal, it’s nice to know that the team owner thinks highly of you. Ziegler showed last year he isn’t afraid to spend if it makes sense. For his part, Mark Davis sounds like he thinks the world of Jacobs.
“Josh is phenomenal. He was the heart of our team last year. He came to play every day and is a tough, tough, tough guy. I am just really proud of him. He was a Raider. If we had 22 Josh Jacobses with that mentality, that guy is just amazing.”
In a Tweet that Raiders beat writer Vic Tafur shared, Davis is quoted as saying that if only his team had 22 players that were like Jacobs last year, well, you get the idea. Jacobs was the NFL’s leading rusher; to say he had a good season is an understatement.
You certainly have to be smiling if you’re Jacobs, right? Well, this isn’t the first time that Davis speaks highly of players, many of whom are no longer with the Raiders. The fact is that words are nice, but what’s nicer is cold, hard cash. Yes, Jacobs is going to make upwards of $10 million, as Ziegler pointed out, but even so, you have to wonder if the team is planning on keeping him around. Also, Jacobs has been rather vocal about Ziegler’s moves this offseason. He made it known that he’s willing to play under the tag if the team around him justifies it. Has Ziegler done that? Well, maybe we will have a better answer after the NFL Draft.
*Top Photo: Getty Images
Mark Davis Got Awfully Close To Admitting Raiders Are In A “Rebuild” And “Praised” Dave Ziegler
