Hill: Josh Jacobs keeps fighting for himself, his position

SUNRISE, Fla. — The tweet sent out by running back Josh Jacobs on Saturday could have multiple meanings.

None are particularly encouraging about how much progress has been made on a new deal for the Raiders star.

“Sometimes it’s not about you,” he wrote. “We gotta do it for the ones after us.”

On the surface, Jacobs is most likely saying he is taking a stand not just for himself but the position in general and how running backs will be compensated in the future.

That interpretation would seem to be backed up by a tweet he reposted last week when former wide receiver turned podcast host Brandon Marshall said the position is the most disrespected in all of sports.

It’s something that I’ve written about before. Something needs to be done about the way running backs are compensated.

NFL teams, like the Raiders in this case, are absolutely correct in not wanting to dole out long-term deals for a position with such a short shelf life. The realities of the salary cap and the affect all the wear and tear has on players who take so many hits between the tackles limit their years of effective play.

And running backs are more than correct in wanting some sort of guarantees instead of accepting a system that essentially rewards teams for running them into the ground and then discarding them just when they are due to get paid.

Both sides are correct. That can’t be a good system.

Another possible interpretation of Jacobs’ tweet is that “the ones after us” would be the future generations of his family. Again, that’s more than fair.

Of course, he may not even be talking about football. But that’s not likely, given he did respond to a couple people on Twitter, including one who told him if he gets back to work and “keeps grinding, it will work out and you’ll get yours.”

Jacobs rightfully responded that simply wasn’t true. That’s the path that really hasn’t worked. The Raiders chose not to pick up his option last year and he went out and led the league in rushing.

All of that earned him a franchise tag, which comes with a generous payday for 2023 and no guarantees beyond. Jacobs has yet to sign it and thus isn’t currently under contract. So he wasn’t out on the field with the Raiders for mini-camp this week.

Jacobs and the team have until July 17 to agree to a long-term deal or else he will basically have to play it out with the Raiders. Saquon Barkley, another star running back, is in the same position with the Giants.

Coach Josh McDaniels said he isn’t concerned. “Like I said, I stand by what I said before, love the kid, love the player, love the person and look forward to when I see him.”

But time is running short. And Jacobs doesn’t sound happy. Stay tuned.

Blame it on JVG

Look, jinxes aren’t real. And broadcaster jinxes are among the silliest of all superstitions.

An announcer saying a player hasn’t missed a free throw in 33 attempts and said player clanking one off the rim on the next shot is just coincidence. Stop with the silliness.

But that was some tough timing for Jeff Van Gundy, who decided to predict during Game 3 of the NBA Finals that the Las Vegas Aces could run the table and go undefeated for the entire WNBA season.

That was Wednesday night. On Thursday, the Aces were soundly defeated by Connecticut.

Syd wins Twitter

If you haven’t read the details of the Zion Williamson story this week, do yourself a favor and don’t do it. But let’s just say there may be more than one young Williamson bun in multiple ovens and it’s getting wild on the social media streets.

Aces guard Sydney Colson, one of the funniest athletes both in person and on social media, may have come up with the best joke about the situation on her Twitter account as more and more new stories started to surface.

“By next month we’ll be callin him Zion Williamsondaughtersonsondaughtersondaughtersonsonsondaughtersonson,” she wrote.

Well played.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.