Raiders focused on trimming roster with or without Josh Jacobs
With NFL cutdown day on Tuesday, the Raiders are focused on the task of trimming their roster from 90 to 53 players.
“We have some tougher decisions to make this year than we did last year, based on the level of competition and how the players have performed up to this point,” second-year general manager Dave Ziegler said Thursday.
Most of those players have been present during a 30-day training camp that wrapped up Thursday in Henderson. One player, though, is nowhere to be found. And his absence not only casts an ominous cloud over the proceedings but also the entire season.
Star running back Josh Jacobs continues to be at odds with the club over his contract. The Raiders remain hopeful the situation will be resolved in time for him to suit up in the season opener Sept. 10 at the Denver Broncos, but that’s no longer a sure thing.
Ziegler, who spoke to the media for the first time since the NFL draft in April, was tight-lipped on the subject.
“Nothing new to add right now on that,” he said. “So we’ll just keep pushing forward.”
The options for Jacobs are limited. As a franchise-tagged player, he is scheduled to make $10.1 million in 2023. By rule, any agreement on a multiyear deal has to wait until after the season.
The Raiders could sweeten the pot a bit for this season, but it’s doubtful they would go any higher than $11 million. That would put Jacobs in the same neighborhood as the New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley, who also was franchise-tagged but signed a one-year deal that included a $2 million signing bonus, a base salary of $8,091,000 and incentives that could push his salary to $11 million.
It also hasn’t helped Jacobs’ case that fellow running backs Dalvin Cook (New York Jets) and Ezekiel Elliott (New England Patriots) recently signed contracts for $7 million and $3 million, respectively.
The monetary value at the position has been dropping for some time now, and the recent deals clearly indicate that.
As one prominent NFL agent said, “At some point, you have to read the room and understand what is realistic and what isn’t. I’m not sure Josh is doing that.”
Ziegler clearly wasn’t keen on talking about alternative solutions to Jacobs playing this season for the Raiders. And certainly not the possibility of a trade, a path the Indianapolis Colts are entertaining with disgruntled running back Jonathan Taylor, who has been granted permission by the club to pursue a trade.
That’s something the Raiders could pursue with Jacobs, who has reportedly drawn interest from the Miami Dolphins. Regardless, Ziegler wasn’t about to lay the Raiders’ plans out in public.
“I don’t know the exact details of what’s happening in Indianapolis. We’re focused on what’s happening here,” he said. “And so trade speculation, all that sort of stuff, organizationally that’s nothing that we would ever address on any player. There’s no advantage to doing that.”
Instead, the Raiders will keep plugging along with or without Jacobs.
“We’re focused on our situation here, putting the roster together the best way that we can to field a competitive team,” Ziegler said.
That might mean leaning heavily on second-year running back Zamir White, who impressed the staff during training camp.
“A lot of growth and maturity,” Ziegler said. “If I was going to pinpoint a specific area where we’ve seen a lot of growth in him, it’s in the passing game as a route runner, in pass protection, his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.