Report: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders agree to one-year contract to take place of franchise tag

Josh Jacobs is back with the Las Vegas Raiders. The star running back has agreed to a new deal, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.

Jacobs’ new contract is for one year and worth up to $12 million. The Raiders placed the franchise tag on him earlier in the offseason, but his new deal will now take its place. There is also a signing bonus as part of the agreement, Rapoport said.

Jacobs appeared to confirm the news via social media, posting “I’m back” shortly after the news broke.

I’m back 😈😏

— Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) August 26, 2023

Jacobs had a monster season for Las Vegas a year ago, setting a new career-high with 1,653 yards to go with 12 touchdowns. He didn’t report for camp despite getting the franchise tag, but it now appears he’ll be ready to go when the Raiders kick off the season in a couple weeks.

Jacobs didn’t sign his franchise tag, which was worth $10.1 million, and hasn’t participated in camp or in preseason games. But optimism was growing about his potential return in time for Week 1, and his new contract will allow him to be on the field for the season opener against the Denver Broncos.

“This is the National Football League,” Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said, “so it’s not easy to go out there and just play games and do it at the speed and level that you want to do it at, unless you’ve really kind of had enough opportunity to get yourself ready to do that.”

“Whether it be J.J. or somebody else, it’s the same thing,” McDaniels added. “Everybody’s gotta have an opportunity to do that, to get reacclimated to the pace, the speed of things.”

Raiders WR Davante Adams: Josh Jacobs is ‘the best back in the league’

Despite his extensive resume, McDaniels still wants to see Jacobs re-establish himself within the offense before the season begins.

“Nothing carries over from one year to the next,” McDaniels said. “You have to re-establish your individual level of performance, and collectively as a unit and ultimately as a team, we have to establish and re-establish ourselves in terms of what we’re gonna be about.”

As Jacobs went about his holdout, Davante Adams admitted he wasn’t happy the star running back was missing camp. However, he called him the best RB in the NFL, showing how important he is to the offense.

“You see the way we like to play the game, we like to run the ball… Not having him right now is obviously something that I’m not happy with,” Adams said. “We got to keep it going as a team until we figure out that piece. Obviously, he’s a huge part of this team and this offense. He’s a really good leader.

“He played like the best back in the league last year, which if you ask me he is the best back in the league. It’s tough not having him at this point of the training period. We’ll see what happens down the line.”

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this report.