The biggest loss the Las Vegas Raiders had this offseason was losing star running back Josh Jacobs. The former NFL leading rusher decided to sign a four-year contract with the Green Bay Packers.
While many fans are sad to see Jacobs go, it takes two sides to tango in free agency. According to the running back, he wanted to stay in Las Vegas but he didn't sense that there was much mutual interest.
"Ultimately, I wanted to come back," Jacobs told Fox News Digital. "I wanted to go back, but when we were having negotiations, and they made their decision, it made my decision pretty easy honestly."
New Raiders general manager Tom Telesco doesn't have a track record of paying running backs big money so it's unlikely he was willing to match the $48 million contract the Packers were offering. There does seem to be some hard feelings as Jacobs hasn't spoken kindly about the franchise since leaving. In fact, he went out of his way to talk about how much more stable the Packers are as an organization.
"I would say one of the main reasons was just the certainty of what I’m gonna get," Jacobs said. "There’s already a lot of structure, there’s already a lot of stuff in place. Having another new head coach over there , my fourth head coach while I was there, I never felt like there was any stability.
"Just to be able to come into a place where you’re not trying to pick up the pieces, and you’re not trying to build it out and see what works for us. We know what works, we’re basically just trying to execute the game plan. I think that’s the biggest difference."
He's not wrong in his assessment that the Raiders haven't been stable. No matter what they do, they can't seem to find the right head coach or general manager. It's possible that is changing with head coach Antonio Pierce and Telesco but only time will tell.