Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
While explaining why he left the Las Vegas Raiders for the Green Bay Packers this spring, Josh Jacobs took a subtle shot at how unstable his former team has been in recent years.
After having a career year in 2022, as he posted over 2,000 total yards and 12 touchdowns, Josh Jacobs lost a whole bunch of momentum last season. The two-time Pro Bowler did not break 1,000 rushing yards on the ground for the second time in three years and it cost him a lot of leverage ahead of a jump into NFL free agency earlier this year.
That is why it was unsurprising that the Raiders drove a hard bargain in negotiations to re-sign the 26-year-old and were in search of a beneficial deal for the organization. That never came and instead, the Packers swooped in and offered him the contract he was looking for. Which was four years and $48 million.
Most assume that Jacobs chose to join Green Bay over re-signing with Las Vegas because of the money. And they would be right, partially. During an appearance at a Milwaukee Fire Department house on Tuesday, he admitted being unwilling to get near his asking price played a major role in his choice to leave Vegas.
However, he also claimed the Las Vegas Raiders’ instability in recent years, and having another new head coach in 2024 helped make the move to Wisconsin easier.
“I would say one of the main reasons was just the certainty of what I’m gonna get,” Jacobs told WFIN FOX. “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.
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“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.”
Hopefully, new full-time head coach Antonio Pierce can be the first man to last more than three years in the role since John Gruden held on to the job for four seasons at the beginning of the century.
Lacking stability is not a great look for a franchise and it probably affects how many players and coaches around the league view the organization. In the end, the Raider brand always stays strong and likely balances the negative opinions of the team.