New Packers running back Josh Jacobs, if he had his choice, would not be a new Packer at all. He had hoped, ever since the Raiders made him the team’s first-round pick in 2019, that he would remain with the silver-and-black for life, but it became clear over the course of the offseason back in 2023 that would not be happening.
Still, when he was figuring out where he would land next, on his second NFL contract, he maintained enough loyalty to the Raiders, despite the broken relationship, that he would not commit the ultimate stab-in-the-back to the organization. Despite free-agent entreaties from the defending champion Chiefs, Jacobs declined to leave the Raiders for their most hated rival.
Lucky thing for the Packers, too. Jacobs could easily have been a Chief if he’d wanted to.
“They were trying to get me hard,” he told The Athletic. “But there was no way I was going there. I feel like once you are rivals with somebody, you have a genuine hate for them. I couldn’t see myself in that color. And besides, I never wanted to be the guy that joined the dominant team. I want to be the guy that beats the dominant team.”
Packers Handed Out $48 Million Contract
Instead, Jacobs finds himself at the start of a relationship with the Packers, one which could go in any number of directions. He signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the team in the offseason, but it is not quite a four-year deal—the Packers have outs after each season, which means that Jacobs will effectively have to play well enough each season to earn his next deal with the team.
Packers fans might be prepared to welcome Jacobs, but there is still some bitterness over the departure of Aaron Jones, whom the team cut ties with despite a strong second half of the season and playoff performance. Jones was a popular figure in and out of the locker room.
Jacobs is much quieter than Jones, a much different style of leader. But he hopes to bring the kind of every-down grind to Green Bay that he has shown himself capable of producing during his five seasons with the Raiders. Jacobs struggled last season (805 yards in 13 games) but led the NFL in rushing in 2023 (1,653 yards).
He likes the fact, he said, that the Packers are still so young that most players on the roster are still on their first contracts, knowing they need to produce to earn a big second deal.
“A lot of guys aren’t on their second contract,” Jacobs said. “And that excited me because I know how players play when they’re hungry and want to get the contract to set up their family for life.”
Josh Jacobs Lost ‘Trust’ With Raiders
That second contract was a sticking point for Jacobs and the Raiders, and paved the way for his departure to the Packers. After he led the league in rushing, he expected the Raiders to tear up his fifth-year option and give him a solid new contract. But at a time when running backs are being devalued, Jacobs was surprised to find that the Raiders franchise-tagged him.
He held out. Eventually, the Raiders bumped up their deal for Jacobs slightly, but it was a big disappointment.
“Trust was missing then,” he told The Athletic. “I wasn’t really mentally there, not happy to be there. Obviously, I loved my teammates so I was going to give everything I had for them, but I felt like I had been slapped in my face.”
In a way, he had. But he was still not about to return fire on the Raiders by signing with the Chiefs. The Packers can be grateful for that.