Raiders add another veteran RB as Josh Jacobs continues holdout

Nobody knows when or if star running back Josh Jacobs is going to make an appearance for the Las Vegas Raiders as his contract dispute regarding the franchise tag rolls on. 

The Raiders need to have a contingency plan in place if Jacobs does not report, and they added another veteran running back on Friday with the signing of free agent Damien Williams.

The 31-year-old Williams appeared in just one game for the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 and received just a single carry for two yards. 

His best season in the NFL came in 2019 when he rushed for 419 yards as a member of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Williams was a surprising standout during the Chiefs' playoff run that year, scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 104 yards (with a touchdown) in their 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers. 

Prior to the signing of Williams, the Raiders' running back depth chart consisted of second-year player Zamir White and veterans Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden. It is not an ideal situation. Williams, Abdullah and Bolden are all over the age of 30 and are years removed from being productive NFL running backs.

White, a third-round pick a year ago, has some potential but has only carried the ball 17 times in an NFL game. 

Even though NFL teams are increasingly operating on the belief that running backs are mostly interchangeable, there is still a massive drop in talent and production from what Jacobs can provide and what the current running back room is capable of.

Jacobs has rushed for at least 1,000 yards in three of his first four seasons and led the NFL with 1,653 yards a year ago. He was a major focal point in the Raiders' offense and could take a lot of pressure off of new starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. 

The Raiders were unable to agree to a long-term contract extension with Jacobs before the deadline for franchise-tagged players, meaning there are only two possible ways he appears in a game this season. The first is that he simply signs his franchise tag and reports to the team. The second is that the Raiders do what the New York Giants did with Saquon Barkley and work out a new one-year deal worth more than the current franchise tag number. 

The former option does not seem to be realistic given how strongly Jacobs feels about his value and how unhappy he is with the franchise tag and the declining market for star running backs. 

Running backs might be easily replaceable in some cases, but the Raiders' Plan B without Jacobs does not inspire much confidence. They need him back, especially if they are resorting to bringing in a 31-year-old veteran that carried the ball just one time a year ago.