How Might Packers Address RB Situation With Josh Jacobs’ Question Marks?

In time, the facts will come out about whatever happened that led to the arrest of Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs on Tuesday.

However, general manager Brian Gutekunst has to live in another reality. He is unable to dodge the difficult conversations that must be had.

While the human element matters more than anything in light of Jacobs facing five charges, including strangulation and suffocation, Gutekunst has to do the right thing for the Packers. That doesn’t mean reflexively releasing the former Pro Bowler, but he has to at least be considering the worst in that his star running back might not be on the field.

In a delicate situation filled with perhaps more questions than answers, Gutekunst has to abide by two truisms.

The first is that Jacobs is innocent until proven guilty.

Jacobs was a team captain last season. Gutekunst knows him well not only for what he delivered on the field but what he brought off the field.

“Josh is a warrior,” he said at the Scouting Combine. “Really important part of our football team. Everything that he brings to us on the field, in the locker room, he’s an important part and I think he’s got a lot of good years left.”

The second is to expect the worst and hope for the best.

Hope is not a plan. The Packers had a need at running back, anyway, after losing Emanuel Wilson in free agency and not signing a veteran or drafting a prospect. Other than Jacobs, Chris Brooks is the only running back on the roster who played a single snap last season, let alone carried the football, caught a pass or blocked a blitzing linebacker.

There are intriguing options on the roster. Brooks has been effective in limited chances with the ball in his three seasons. MarShawn Lloyd (third round, 2024), Pierre Strong (fourth round, 2022) and Damien Martinez (seventh round, 2025) are former draft picks with excellent college resumes and size/speed numbers.

There’s a reason why running back, in some circles, is considered a disposable position. Great quarterbacks almost universally enter the NFL as first-round draft picks. Great running backs come from here, there and anywhere.

Aaron Jones was a star for the Packers who was drafted in the fifth round. The Rams’ Kyren Willams, who is coming off a third consecutive season of 1,100 rushing yards and 13-plus total touchdowns, also was a fifth-round pick. Rico Dowdle, a former undrafted free agent, is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

Just because Brooks and the rest of the Packers’ backups haven’t had 100-yard games or 1,000-yard seasons doesn’t mean they can’t.

But it would be foolish for Gutekunst to count on it. That was probably true even before Tuesday’s arrest.

The Finances

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs runs with the ball in the playoff game against the Bears. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jacobs is under contract for the next two seasons. For this season, he has a base salary of $10.2 million, an additional $1.3 million available in roster bonuses and a cap charge of about $14.543 million.

If necessary, according to OverTheCap.com, the Packers could move on today and save about $8.292 million in cap space for 2026 with no dead money for 2027. By waiting until June 1, which is just a few days away, the Packers would save about $11.418 million in cap space for 2026 with a leftover $3.125 million for 2027.

Again, a point that can’t be driven home enough, there are investigations to complete, but those are important numbers that Gutekunst almost certainly knows to the dollar as he considers all possible outcomes.

The Veteran Market

The free-agent marketplace, as you might expect, has been picked over. Warts and all, here are six of the best unsigned backs. Ages are as of Sept. 1.

Nick Chubb, Texans (30): Injuries ruined Chubb’s career. He had four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, bookended by 1,494 yards in 2019 and 1,525 yards in 2022. Knee and foot injuries limited him to a total of 10 games in 2023 and 2024. Last season with Houston, he rushed for 506 yards (4.1 average) in 15 games.

Antonio Gibson, Patriots (28): Gibson suffered a torn ACL in Week 5 of last season. A third-round pick by Washington in 2020, Gibson rushed for 1,037 yards in 2021 but never hit even 550 yards the last four seasons. A college receiver, he has 197 receptions in six seasons.

Najee Harris, Chargers (28): Harris missed most of last season with a torn Achilles. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards with at least 29 receptions in each of his four seasons with the Steelers before his ill-fated season in Los Angeles.

Joe Mixon, Texans (30): Mixon missed last season due to injury. He averaged more than 1,000 rushing yards each of the previous four seasons, including 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground and 36 catches in 2024. In light of the allegations against Jacobs, Mixon’s off-the-field history might make him unsignable.

Kareem Hunt, Chiefs (31): Hunt led the NFL with 1,327 rushing yards as a rookie in 2017 but hasn’t gotten close to hitting that level the past eight seasons. He’s fallen short of 4.0 yards per carry each of the last four seasons. Last year, he rushed for 611 yards (3.7 average) in 17 games. He might be unsingable, too.

Alvin Kamara, Saints (31): Kamara remains under contract but could be a June 1 cut by the rebuilding Saints. In nine seasons with the team, he has 12,198 total yards and 86 total touchdowns. The five-time Pro Bowler has never been a 1,000-yard runner but has seven seasons of more than 1,300 total yards. Last year, though, he rushed for only 471 yards (3.6 average) with 33 receptions (5.6 average). All four of those figures were the worst of his career.

The Trade Market

With the lack of backfield depth and Jacobs’ age and contract, a trade has always been a possibility. It might be more likely now. If Gutekunst decides he needs to add a true, starting-caliber running back, the trade market will be much more enticing based on youth and upside if not outright production.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) tackles Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trey Benson, Cardinals (24): The Cardinals, who are coached by Matt LaFleur’s brother, Mike, are overflowing with running backs. With James Conner, who topped 1,000 rushing yards in 2023 and 2024, and Benson under contract, they signed Tyler Allgeier in free agency and used the No. 3 overall pick of the draft on Jeremiyah Love.

Someone’s going to have to go, and that someone is probably Benson. A third-round pick in the same draft that produced Lloyd, Benson has been a disappointment with 451 rushing yards in 17 career games. He played in only four games last year due to a foot injury.

On the bright side, Benson won’t turn 24 until the start of training camp. He’s big (6-foot, 220 pounds), fast (4.39 in the 40), explosive (4.9 yards per carry) and cheap (two years left on his rookie deal).

Braelon Allen, Jets (22): The former Wisconsin star and Wisconsin native was a fourth-round pick by the Jets in 2024. He missed most of last season with a torn MCL. In 21 career games, he’s rushed for 410 yards and averaged 3.7 yards per carry. At 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, he’s almost impossibly young for a third-year player.

The Jets are rebuilding and have Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis in the backfield. Allen is under contract for two more seasons.

“I played a lot of defense growing up through high school,” Allen told The New York Post before last season. “That’s kind of a mentality I developed on that side of the ball, just delivering the hits, not taking them, so I kind of carried that over to when I started playing running back in college. My mindset on every play is just to punish and try to impose my will.”

Kaleb Johnson, Steelers (23): Johnson was a third-round pick by Pittsburgh last year, meaning he’s under contract for three more seasons. He rushed for only 69 yards on 28 carries as a rookie. That yardage total represented a good half at Iowa, where Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards in 2024.

It’s hard to believe the Steelers would give up on him after one season, but there’s a new coach (Mike McCarthy), a new, productive veteran (Rico Dowdle) and an exciting rookie (Eli Heidenreich) to join Jaylen Warren.

Isaac Guerendo, 49ers (26): A fourth-round pick in 2024, the former Wisconsin and Louisville player rushed for 420 yards with a 5.0-yard average as a rookie but didn’t touch the ball on offense in 14 games last season. At 221 pounds with 4.33 speed in the 40, he’s obviously got an enticing skill-set.

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