Pierce on Losing Jacobs in Free Agency: 'That One Hurt'

The Las Vegas Raiders lost a big part of their team when former rushing champion Josh Jacobs left to join the Green Bay Packers.

The Las Vegas Raiders will enter next season without running back Josh Jacobs, a player who had been one of the few staples of the Raiders' modern era.

Despite Jacobs missing the final four games of Las Vegas' 2023 season, Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce wanted his star running back to return and continue his career with the Silver and Black.

Instead, Jacobs said good-bye to the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and headed to the Green Bay Packers, where he will begin the next chapter of his professional journey.

"Don't like to see it," Pierce said at the NFL Owners' Meetings on Monday. "I made it known -- the heartbeat, a Raider through and through. But as we all know, it's a business.

"You hear that line, but it's true; money talks, BS walks, right? And he had to do what was best for him and his family, and I wish him the best, but that one hurt."

Jacobs was the Raiders' top running back for five seasons, three of which he rushed for over 1,000 yards, including the 2022 season when he led the league in rushing with 1,653. That season, he also finished No. 1 in the league in scrimmage yards at 2,053 and rushing yards per game at 97.2. Jacobs was named to the 2022 All-Pro First Team and his second career Pro Bowl.

The veteran finished his career with the Silver and Black as the franchise's third all-time leading rusher at 5,545 rushing yards. His rushing total in the 2022 season is the second largest in a single season in Raiders history, trailing only Hall of Famer Marcus Allen's 1,759 rushing yards in the 1985 season.

You can watch Pierce's entire press conference from Monday here.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.

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