0-for-3: Raiders decline fifth-year options on Jacobs, Ferrell and Abram

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, April 29, 2022 | 10:11 a.m.

So much for waiting until Monday with one of the biggest remaining decisions of the Raiders’ offseason.

Coach Josh McDaniels intimated waiting until the deadline was the team’s plan with the fifth-year options on a trio of former first-round picks — running back Josh Jacobs, defensive end Clelin Ferrell and safety Johnathan Abram — but the team instead released a statement Friday morning. Las Vegas will exercise the option on none of its top three picks from the 2019 draft.

“We look forward to working with all three players and we will evaluate each situation individually moving forward,” general manager Dave Ziegler said in the statement.

It’s important to note all three players will still be on the Raiders’ roster for this summer’s training camp and almost surely going into the season. The decision was for the 2023 season, as teams have an extra year of control on the contracts of first-round picks if they choose to pay a franchise rate with escalators for playing time and Pro Bowl berths.

It’s not a major surprise than none of the options were picked up, though Jacobs seemed to have the best chance. Both Ferrell, the fourth overall pick, and Abram, the 27^th overall pick, have underachieved through their first three seasons to not live up to designated 2023 salaries of $11.5 million and $7.3 million, respectively.

Jacobs has been the best of the bunch, emerging as a team captain and helping push the Raiders into the playoffs with a spectacular performance in Week 18 against the Chargers last year. But he also struggled with nagging season-long injuries last year coming off a Pro Bowl season that raised his fifth-year price to $8 million.

The Raiders’ outgoing power duo of coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock highly valued running backs even as much of the rest of the NFL moves away from paying a premium at the position. It’s early, but McDaniels and Ziegler appear to prefer a more running back-by-committee approach and not allocating too much salary-cap space to one player at the position.

Jacobs could change their mind, though — as could Ferrell and Abram. The team could renegotiate new deals with all three players if they choose in free agency after this upcoming season; they’re just not guaranteed to be on the roster for two more years at the high, assigned 2023 salary.

“Those guys have been great,” McDaniels said last night. “All of them here, all of them doing all the right things. We're really enjoying that process of getting to know them and really, I'm looking forward to just building the relationships with them because regardless of what happens, you pick up it, you don’t, that that doesn't mean that the relationship’s going to change.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or