The Raiders have just one unsigned pick from this year’s draft class, RB Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is expected to be a featured part of the club’s revamped offensive attack in 2019, but according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, negotiations between player and team are not going well.
Tafur adds that there is a growing belief that Jacobs will not report to training camp on July 23, when rookies are scheduled to arrive. Of course, since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, rookie holdouts have become quite rare, given that the contract values and signing bonuses are predetermined. Some first-year players have taken issue with offset language, but Jacob’s concerns apparently involve the payment schedule of his signing bonus.
As the name implies, signing bonuses are fully guaranteed at signing, but as we have seen in the saga of the Seahawks and former second-round draft choice Malik McDowell, the team does not have to pay the full amount of the bonus upfront and instead can pay in installments. So, since McDowell sustained a non-football injury and was ultimately cut, Seattle did not pay him the final installment of his signing bonus and is now suing him to recover another installment.
Although Jacobs is presumably not planning to suffer a non-football injury of his own, it sounds as if he wants to paid a larger chunk of his signing bonus (or all of it) as soon as he puts pen to paper.
Given his background — Jacobs spent some of his childhood homeless and sleeping in a car — that’s easy to understand. But it would also seem to be in his best interests to get this matter resolved and to start seizing control of Oakland’s starting RB job. After all, head coach Jon Gruden has spoken glowingly of Jacobs, and Tafur believes the Alabama product could be the three-down workhorse that Gruden is looking for.
When Jacobs does sign, he will receive a four-year, $11.9MM deal with a $6.7MM signing bonus.
Running back contracts should be fully guaranteed
If there’s any position that contracts shouldn’t be guaranteed it’s rb
That’s exactly why they should be. It’s these guys careers, and their body their whole life. Ever see Earl Campbell trying to get around after his playing days? Let these dudes make a little money. 11 million for 4 years? Pay the kid
From the players point of view it makes a ton of sense but why would an owner want to pay a guy who will see a drop off in production after his 27th bday
Maybe all drafted players contracts should be fully guaranteed and then veteran players can keep negotiating as-is. That would benefit running backs a lot.
Aggg. Exactly why the kid should make demands on his rookie contract. sorry. forgot about all the billionaire support round these parts. I’ll try not to be a crazy socialist in the future
count one more.
That’s actually a great idea! RB are the most disposable players in football. They run them into the ground and move on to the next one.
Exactly
They turn and burn them and they most likely will never see the ultra big payday
Good for Josh. The raiders are a classless organization so it’s no surprise he wants his money upfront.
So everyone who has had the traumatizing experience of having to sleep in a car as a child should be entitled to $6.7MM from their employer on demand? I think I could come out of retirement for that.
He’s entitled to the bonus per the CBA and his placement in the draft.
And the team can pay the Bonus in installments per the CBA as well. He’s entitled to nothing until he signs.
Obviously he’s entitled to nothing before he signs but he’s entitled to the full bonus at signing
If you didn’t make that much, what he does is apparently more valuable to society than what you did.
Society? I think you mean Mark Davis. He would invest $6.7MM on a RB but not $6.70 on a haircut so we know his value system is pretty messed up.
Just give him the signing bonus it’s not like the team cant afford it. Him being a first rounder just means he most likely will have to wait another year to reach free agency cause of the team option. Prospects of RBs getting a nice 2nd contract are slim
All in favor of fixed rookie pay scales but make the signing bonus slotted as well and upfront guaranteed, plz k thx!
Mark Davis is among the most cash strapped owners in American sports. That dude has defer every nickel he can, and “pay as you go.”
That’s the real reason Khalil Mack (and probably Amari Cooper, too) was traded. Per the CBA, player signing bonuses have to be placed in escrow when the deal is signed, regardless of when it’s going to be disbursed.
The Raiders weren’t excited about fronting that much cash. In Mack’s case, the Bears him guaranteed $90mil after he was traded, and had to deposit that, even though it didn’t all immediately go to the player. It’s the same issue here, albeit on a smaller scale.
Then he’s a terrible owner. I keep hearing how poor he is, but frankly the league’s revenues grow by leaps and bounds annually. Goodell has put the league on financial steroids during his time. Not another team complains about the revenue stream except the Raiders. Who, by the way, are getting a brand new stadium pretty much paid for by the league and LV.
They might play in an old stadium in Oak, but plenty of other teams have old stadiums as well. I live in Jacksonville, and have watched Shad re-make our stadium. Adding more box seats, pools, and plenty of other amenities. Why can’t Davis so similar things?
The answer to your last question is simple. Raider fans are usually so drunk or stoned they wouldn’t notice the stadium upgrades anyway.
They’ll be drunk and stoned in Vegas as well!
You’re right. Other NFL fan bases are recognized for their sobriety. Unless you’re in Kansas City. Then you’re recognized for excusing domestic abuse.
In order to fix the Colisseum, you would have to tear down the current one and rebuild it from scratch.
The Jags stadium was originally built in 1928. From Wikipedia
“TIAA Bank Field is located in the Stadium District of downtown Jacksonville, which has been home to football fields since the early 20th century. In 1928 the first permanent football stadium, Fairfield Stadium, was constructed. In 1948 this was expanded and renamed Gator Bowl Stadium, in honor of the annual Gator Bowl game first played two years earlier.”
It has been renovated a few times throughout it’s history. But its nearing its 100th anniversary.
oco sewer.
Davis couldn’t be totally cash strapped if he hired a coach who has been away from football for years a very lucrative contract that lasts a decade.
Guarantee the agent is fronting him money