The Las Vegas Raiders have found their answer at running back in the form of collegiate standout and Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty. However, they already had a former first-round pick on the roster two years ago who was putting up incredible numbers in the form of Josh Jacobs.
Detailing his exit from the team, Jacobs revealed the difficulties he faced in a tell-all interview. From uninspiring contract talks to even some unsavory practices, the entire ordeal was a terrible look for the previous Raiders regime.
Josh Jacobs Reveals Details of Ugly Exit From Las Vegas Raiders
Drafted in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Jacobs was immediately impactful for the Raiders. An All-Rookie team selection, he earned two Pro Bowl and one All-Pro selection over the next four years of his contract, with an unbelievable 2022 campaign.
The league’s leading rusher with over 1,650 yards to his name, his future in Sin City seemed like a virtual guarantee. However, as the story goes, he did not get what he was looking for from the Raiders, instead signing a four-year, $48 million deal with the Green Bay Packers.
But he did not want to change locations. By his own admission, he was fully invested.”I spent a lot of money on the house I fully custom-built and never stayed in. I was invested in there. I was doing franchises, I’m doing work in the community. everything. I’m thinking this is where I’mma be.”
Then, he started going into the details with an expletive-laden start. “It gets to a certain point where you not gonna keep disrespecting me. You only got so many times to be like f*** you before I’m like f*** you too.”
That was with a fantastic relationship with owner Mark Davis already. “Don’t get me wrong. I have a great relationship with Mark Davis. I love Mark Davis, this has nothing to do with Mark Davis.”
🚨🏴☠️ Former Raider Josh Jacobs on how hard it was to leave Las Vegas
Tried everything possible to stay but the front office (not Mark Davis) wouldn’t match offers and were very disrespectful even coming up to Jacobs and Maxx Crosby while secretly on the phone with a reporter 🤯 pic.twitter.com/GMgYzpuOk7
— ShifftttyyyQB1🏴☠️ (@raiders1022) May 6, 2025
The first area of disconnect between franchise and player came from internal discussions. As he would recall, an unnamed executive was sure that Jacobs would continue playing for the Raiders for the money. As a result, they wanted to franchise tag him.
On the other hand, “I’m like, ‘I need no money. I could quit playing right now, I’m great.'” For the Raiders, the extra two million from the franchise tag led them to believe Jacobs would take the deal. But he wasn’t planning on continuing that way.
“Me and my agent, bruh, I’mma like, I’m not playing. I’mma come Week 8 so I can get credited for the season and basically force my way out. That was my plan when they didn’t pay me.” Already, the league leader in rushing yards in 2022 had a plan in place for his exit.
However, he still wanted to give the team a chance during the negotiation period. Unfortunately, it made matters even worse.
How Did the Negotiations Go Between Jacobs and the Raiders?
In a conversation with franchise owner Mark Davis, he made his demands clear. “I’m not asking you to pay me my worth because you can’t. I know that’s realistic, but just don’t disrespect me.” However, reality turned out to be far worse.
As he would go on to detail, virtually every bargain from his end was met with a rejection from the front office, ultimately forcing him to change scenery.
“I was legitimately 65% of the offense, and you’re telling me that you can’t pay the guy who did all that on the team. I’m like, ‘How the hell does that make sense?'” Even though he wanted to say, the negotiations were where everything truly went downhill.
“It hurt my heart ’cause I really wanted to stay,” he began.”I was like, ‘I got six teams talking to me about more money than you. Can you match that?’ They say no. I say, ‘Okay, that’s fine. Can we meet in the middle? Can we get the median of that?’ They say no.”
Finally, when his proposal for incentives to boost his final value was also rejected, the three-time Pro Bowler knew his time was up. “We ain’t got nothing to talk about. Y’all let me know where I stand.”
Ultimately, the offer wasn’t nearly good enough for Jacobs to put pen to paper on, and he wound up as a member of the Packers immediately after.