Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is “in the process of selling” his house in Las Vegas, the former Alabama standout said during a recent appearance on the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast.
Jacobs played for the Las Vegas Raiders before joining the Packers as an NFL free agent last offseason.
“I’ve only walked in it one time,” Jacobs said of the house, “and it wasn’t fully done.”
Jacobs said the house was one of the reasons that he didn’t want to leave the Raiders
“I spent a lot of money on a house I built,” Jacobs said. “Fully custom-built and never stayed in. You got to know I was invested there. I was doing franchises. I was in the community. I’m doing work in the community, everything. I’m thinking like, ‘OK, this is where I’m going to be.’ I’m planning everything there.
“But it gets to a certain point where you’re not going to keep disrespecting me. You only got so many times to be like ‘(Expletive) you’ before I’m like ‘(Expletive) you, too.’ And that’s how I felt about it.”
Jacobs had joined the Raiders as the 24th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. In his first three seasons, he ran for 3,087 yards and 28 touchdowns on 732 carries and caught 107 passes for 752 yards.
That wasn’t enough to convince the Raiders to exercise their option on Jacobs’ four-year, $11.933 million rookie contract. Las Vegas could have secured Jacobs for another year by agreeing to pay him $8.034 million for the 2023 season before the 2022 season. Instead, the Raiders let the fifth-year option deadline pass.
Jacobs responded by leading the NFL in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage during the 2022 season, when he ran for 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns on 340 carries and caught 53 passes for 400 yards. For his performance, Jacobs was the first-team All-Pro running back.
The Raiders responded by using their 2023 franchise tag on Jacobs to keep him from becoming a free agent. The running back was seeking a long-term deal, but the extra time for negotiation provided by the franchise tag passed without one.
“It was just the fact that I was legitimately 65 percent of the offense that year,” Jacobs said, “and you’re telling me you will not pay the guy that did everything for the team. I’m like, ‘How does that make sense?’”
Because Jacobs never signed the franchise-tag tender, once the negotiation deadline passed, NFL rules prohibited the Raiders from offering Jacobs anything but a one-year contract. Jacobs stayed away from the team until he signed about two weeks before the Raiders’ season-opening game.
In the end, Jacobs signed a contract that had $10.091 million in guaranteed money – the value of the franchise tag. The contract also paid Jacobs $100,000 for every game he was on Las Vegas’ game-day roster and had performance incentives. The team ended up paying Jacobs $11.791 million during the 2023 season.
After the 2023 season, Jacobs signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the Packers. He ran for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns on 301 carries and caught 36 passes for 342 yards and one touchdown in 2024 for Green Bay.
“It really hurt my heart because I tried to stay,” Jacobs said. “I did everything in my power to stay. My agent, he was even getting mad at me because he was like, ‘Bro, at what point are going to be like (expletive) these dudes?’ Because I’m like I got six teams talking to me about more money than you. I’m like, ‘Can you match that?’ They say, ‘No.’ I said, ‘OK, that’s fine. Can we meet in the middle? Can we get the median of that?’ They say, ‘No.’ They were offering me $10 (million) a year. So I’m like, ‘OK, cool. Can I get some incentives?’ Maybe I hit them; maybe I don’t. They said, ‘No.’ Once they said no, I said, ‘We ain’t got nothing to talk about. Y’all let me know where I stand.’”
So Jacobs left the Raiders and his house – and the stress of building it – behind in Las Vegas for Green Bay.
“When I say it was one of the most stressful times I ever went through, because I didn’t know how much really went into a house,” Jacobs said, “from every, like, backsplash to every little detail that you can put into houses – it was crazy – that they need your opinion on. I’m like, ‘Bro, it’s three fireplaces in the house. Like, pick something.’ They’re like, ‘You got to pick something.’ …
“It’s actually down the street from Derek Carr and (Jon) Gruden’s houses in Vegas. I had, like, the biggest lot in the community, so I’m like, ‘I’m souping the house up.’ But I’m not too much mad about it, man. I’m due to make almost double what I spent, so I’m not too mad about it. And here is way, way cheaper. I got an eight-bedroom crib, and I’m like, ‘This is crazy. This much house, like, for nothing.’”
