Today is the start of Raiders mandatory minicamp. And they have a full house. With one notable exception — Josh Jacobs.
“JJ is the only one that’s not under contract,” said Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels.
Jacobs has a contract ready to sign. It’s his franchise tender, which is worth $10 million over one year.
Players are rarely enthusiastic about signing their franchise tenders because they want a long term deal and the job security that comes with it. Signing for one year is a big risk. Should they get a serious injury, they may never see a long term deal in the future either.
So, you can understand Jacobs might be hoping he never has to sign that franchise tender. And it’s not unusual that he would feel that way.
“The deadline is not until July, so, again, I respect everything about that process. This is not the first time that that’s happened in terms of me being a part of that,” McDaniels said of the franchise tag deadline.
“Love the kid, love the player, love the person, and look forward to when I see him.”
Obviously McDaniels is hoping the situation is resolved by the deadline — whether by tag or long term deal — and Jacobs will take the field with his teammates in time for training camp.
Until that happens, there is always the possibility both sides could dig their heels in at which point we’d have a real holdout type situation. And no one wants that.
