Raiders news: When will Las Vegas see Josh Jacobs again?

July 17 was the deadline for the Las Vegas Raiders to get a long-term deal done with star running back Josh Jacobs. This offseason, the Raiders placed the franchise tag on Jacobs early on, in hopes of having extra time to get a deal done for a player who led the NFL in both rushing and all-purpose yards last season.

Since arriving with the Raiders as a first-round draft pick back in 2019, Jacobs has emerged as one of the best young running backs in the game. In three of his four seasons, Jacobs has rushed for over 1,000 yards, and his 1,600-plus season in 2022 was the best we have seen from a Raiders running back since Marcus Allen back in the 1980s.

However, despite his incredible season, there were serious doubts that the Raiders would ink him to a long-term contract this offseason. Based on the NFL landscape nowadays, running backs are not a big-time commodity, even one that is only going to be 25 years old this season and is already one of the best Raiders running backs in team history.

Now, with no new deal in place, the Raiders cannot negotiate with him until next year, so who knows when the team will actually see him in the building.

Could the Raiders star holdout the entire summer?

The Raiders are now in big trouble in terms of getting a deal done with Jacobs, as the only hope they have left of him playing this season is for him to play on the franchise tag. That would mean a contract of $10 million for Jacobs in his fifth season, well below what he would be worth on a long-term contract.

So the big question is whether or not the Raiders will even see him at all in 2023. Jacobs could in fact sit out 2023, which would be devastating to the Silver and Black. Behind Jacobs are a few veterans in Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden, as well as a second-year player in Zamir White, three guys who would have serious trouble replicating what Jacobs can do for this Raiders offense.

There is also the fact that the Raiders are going with a new quarterback this season, and I am sure Jimmy Garoppolo would like nothing more than for Jacobs to be behind him as a security blanket in Year 1. Overall, this could play out to be a nightmare scenario for the Raiders, and as of July 18, it is anybody's guess as to when we will see Jacobs again.

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