The Facts: In the aftermath of Monday’s deadline for franchise-tagged players to reach long-term deals with their respective teams, some reporting emerged about Jacobs and the Raiders. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media noted that Jacobs was waiting in a car outside of team headquarters in case something got done. Albert Breer of SI.com said “an effort was really made” by Las Vegas to strike a deal. Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote of an “amicable vibe” between the two sides, who ended Monday “on good terms.” But now one longtime Raiders beat reporter has disputed some of those characterizations. Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com reported on Thursday that contract talks between the Raiders and Jacobs were “dead in the water” before last weekend.

Diehards Line: Tafur also detailed some aspects of Las Vegas’ offer. With Jacobs set to earn $10.1 million playing on the franchise tender in 2023 plus a projected $12.2 million if he were tagged again in 2024, the floor for a deal would ostensibly be $22.3 million. According to Tafur, the Raiders “never even got close to that number,” which calls into question how close Las Vegas really was to reaching a deal with Jacobs. As for the other reporting, Tafur speculates that GM Dave Ziegler and HC Josh McDaniels would like other Raiders players and team owner Mark Davis to feel like the club did its due diligence with Jacobs and had “exhaustive” talks with the running back. It’s worth noting that the Raiders did have the chance to keep Jacobs under contract for 2023 at a salary of $8 million, but the club declined Jacobs’ fifth-year option last spring. Then Jacobs went out and led the league in rushing and became a first-team All-Pro. Either way, Jacobs is currently unsigned and now the two sides aren’t able to talk a long-term deal until January. Because he is not under contract, Jacobs is not subject to fines if he doesn’t attend training camp. But Jacobs and the Raiders can still reach an agreement for the 2023 season with no tag next year.