This could have been a disaster for the Denver Broncos.
Free agent running back Josh Jacobs terrorized the Denver Broncos for years, and actually did them a huge favor in 2024 and beyond. Jacobs was among the top free agents available this past offseason. After years of killing the Broncos on the ground as a Raider, he left in free agency and signed with the Green Bay Packers.
This was a huge sigh of relief, as Denver will rarely have to deal with the talented running back, and this quote from Jacobs recently really could have turned into a disaster scenario for the Denver Broncos:
““They were trying to get me hard,” Jacobs said. “But there was no way I was going there. I feel like once you are rivals with somebody, you have a genuine hate for them. I couldn’t see myself in that color. And besides, I never wanted to be the guy that joined the dominant team. I want to be the guy that beats the dominant team.””
In an article in The Athletic, Jacobs details how the Kansas City Chiefs, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, heavily pursued his services in free agency. Wow. Just wow. Josh Jacobs actually feels like one of the more genuine players in the NFL after reading this.
He could have latched onto the Chiefs, entered into a great situation, and been running behind an elite offensive line and playing alongside the best QB in the NFL. It seems pretty obvious to me in reading this quote that Jacobs did not want to take the easy way out. Had the talented back signed with the Chiefs in free agency, this would have just been a flat-out disaster for the Denver Broncos.
Jacobs is still 26 years old, and in five years for the Raiders, rushed for 5,545 yards, 46 touchdowns, and also accumulated another 1,448 yards as a receiver. He averaged 76 yards per game across his 73 regular season games with the Raiders. In 2023 against the Denver Broncos, Jacobs rushed for just 48 yards and was inactive during their final matchup.
Jacobs went 8-0 against the Denver Broncos in his career. He rushed for 769 yards and nine touchdowns in those eight games, hitting the 100-yard mark four times. The Broncos just never seemed to have an answer for Josh Jacobs when he stepped onto the field. Now with the Packers, Jacobs can torture the rest of the NFC North for years to come.
It’s a huge dodged bullet for the Denver Broncos, as Josh Jacobs on the Kansas City Chiefs would have turned into a massive disaster situation.
