NFL News – Part 3

Packers to Sign Jacobs – Josh Jacobs is changing addresses and moving to ‘Title Town, , and his new home is a big shocker around NFL circles.

The former Las Vegas Raiders half back has reportedly agreed to sign with the Green Bay Packers, according to NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero..

According to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, Jacobs will earn $48 million over the four-year life of the contract.

It is thought to be the long-term security that Jacobs did not receive in 2023, when the Raiders slapped him with the franchise tag, though Jacobs never signed it on the dotted line and held out to start training camp. Cooler heads prevailed. He eventually agreed to a one-year, $11.8 million deal in August, putting a band aid on the dispute.

Jacobs, 26 years old, has been a workhorse, carrying the rock for at least 800 yards in all five of his NFL seasons. His career year came in 2022, when he led the league with 1,653 rushing yards to go along with 12 touchdowns. The 2023 season was a bit more of a letdown, as he finished with 805 yards and six scores in 13 games, adding 37 receptions for 296 yards.

Granted, injuries robbed him four games, hurting his overall numbers. Also, he was a different player under interim head coach Antonio Pierce after Josh McDaniels was relieved of his duties on November 1, rushing 100 times for 397 yards and three touchdowns in five games following the change.

In eight games under McDaniels, he rushed 133 times for just 408 yards and three touchdowns.

When Jacobs hit free agency, he joined a loaded class that included Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Tony Pollard and Austin Ekeler, among others. But given that he is younger than Henry and Ekeler and does not have as many miles on his tires, has stayed more consistently healthy than Barkley and has proved in the past he can thrive as the bell-cow back, something Pollard struggled to do in 2023 with the Dallas Cowboys, it was always a possibility that Jacobs was going to be considered the top option at the position in free agency.

The Packers are leaning on Jacobs being a top option in their backfield, though the presence of Aaron Jones made Jacobs’ addition a major surprise.

Still, quarterback Jordan Love will be elated to have another weapon at his disposal, and one of the bigger names in this free-agency class is now off the board.

And…

Eagles to Sign Ex-Giants RB Barkley – Saquon Barkley’s tenure with the New York Giants is coming to an end, although they will still see him twice a year.

The running back is expected to sign with the rival Philadelphia Eagles when free agency opens officially Wednesday, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported on Monday, according to sources.

Barkley’s contract will be for three years and $37.75 million, which will place him just behind Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints Alvin Kamara and Jonathan Taylor with the Indianapolis Colts, for one of the richest current contracts for the devalued position.

The Giants opted not to place the franchise tag on Barkley for a second straight year, which would have cost them $12.1 million. Tagging Barkley in 2023 led to a short but scary holdout, followed by a revised one-year deal to keep him in the ‘Big Apple’ last season.

Still, the Giants, who added veteran RB Devin Singletary later Monday, appeared to want him back but at their price.

“He’s a guy we’d like to have back,” Giants GM Joe Schoen told the media during the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine last month in Indianapolis.

Barkley, 27, was efficient in 2023, tallying 962 rush yards and six rushing touchdowns, along with 41 catches for 280 yards and four touchdowns in 14 starts in 2023. But it was a step down from his brilliant 2022 campaign in which he totaled 1,650 yards from scrimmage.

Injuries have stifled his career, to a degree, since entering the NFL in 2018 as the No. 2 overall pick out of Penn State University in the draft that year. He sat out three games last year with an ankle injury, which also affected his 2021 season. Barkley also suffered a torn ACL and MCL in 2020, which limited him to two games that season.

This makes two offseasons in a row where the Eagles have made a major move at the running back position. Last year, they swung a trade during the 2023 NFL Draft to land D’Andre Swift via trade from the Detroit Lions. The Eagles are poised to lose Swift, who is expected to sign with the Bears at the start of free agency.

In 10 games against the Eagles (including a 2022 playoff game in Philadelphia), Barkley has rushed 147 times for 676 yards and six touchdowns, adding 36 receptions for 271 and one score. His only two 100-yard rushing games against the Eagles both came in his Offensive Rookie of the Year season in 2018. Now the Giants are set to face their former star at least twice per season.

The move actually brings Barkley slightly closer to his home, having grown up in Coplay, Pa., which is just outside of Allentown, about an hour from the Eagles’ facility. And it adds another star talent to the Eagles’ offense alongside Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, assuming Barkley’s health does not become a major issue again.