Acme Packing Company
After taking a look at Rashan Gary and Elgton Jenkins, our cap casualties series now turns to the offensive backfield. What does the future hold for running back Josh Jacobs?
A 2019 first-round pick by the Raiders (with one of the picks they got from Chicago in the Khalil Mack trade in 2018), Jacobs joined the Packers in 2024 as a free agent. Since then, he’s been productive in a high-volume role, carrying the ball 535 times for 2,258 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns over his first two years in Green Bay.
Jacobs battled injuries in the second half of the 2025 season, though, and heading into his age 28 season, his cap hit will approach $15 million. With the Packers looking to retool several parts of their roster before a major teardown in 2027, will Jacobs be a part of the picture in 2026?
The case for Josh Jacobs
Jacobs’ strongest case for remaining in Green Bay is this: he’s doing exactly what the Packers have asked him to do.
The Packers clearly wanted a workhorse, bellcow, lead dog, or whatever animal metaphor you prefer when they signed Jacobs, and he’s given them that. Even with the Packers heavily managing his carries in the last month of the season, Jacobs still logged 234 attempts in the regular season, piling up 13 rushing touchdowns.
He also gave the Packers 36 receptions in the passing game, averaging 7.8 yards per catch. It was just the ninth time since 2000 that a Packers back has hit both of those thresholds.
It’s also noteworthy that Jacobs’ best days coincided with the Packers’ best team performances. He carried 17 times for 83 yards (4.9 yards per attempt) in the Packers’ Thanksgiving Day romp in Detroit, and he carried 20 times for 86 yards and a touchdown (4.3 yards per attempt) in the Packers 28-21 win over the Bears. Jacobs touched the ball on six of the eight plays on the Packers’ game winning drive, including an impressive 21-yard run on a third down play, and the game-winning touchdown.
The case against Josh Jacobs
There are deeper issues with Jacobs, though. Jacobs’ volume-based stats look okay in part because the Packers force-fed him the ball throughout the year. On a rate basis, Jacobs’ stats don’t look nearly as good.
Jacobs has never been a home run hitter as a ballcarrier, and his stats reflect that, but you have to start wondering at what point his lackluster rate stats are evidence of age-related decline and overall wear-and-tear than just a reflection of his playing style.
Let’s start with his yards per carry average. Jacobs averaged just 4.0 per carry this year, the fourth time in his seven-year career that he’s averaged four yards or less per carry. Jacobs was one of 21 players in the NFL to carry the ball at least 200 times this year, and of that group, only three players (Christian McCaffrey, Ashton Jeanty, and Quinshon Judkins) had a worse yards per carry...
