Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs will open the 2026 NFL regular season on the commissioner’s exempt list, a bombshell dropped by the league on Sunday. This isn’t just a minor setback, folks. While on this list, Jacobs can’t practice, he can’t play, and for a team gearing up for kickoff, that’s a massive hole in the backfield.
Legal Drama Puts Jacobs’ Season on Ice
The reason for this move stems from serious stuff. Back in May, Jacobs was arrested and later released from a Wisconsin jail after five criminal charges were brought against him: strangulation and suffocation, battery-domestic abuse, criminal damage to property-domestic abuse, disorderly conduct-domestic abuse, and intimidation of a victim. His lawyers stated at the time of his release that he denied any wrongdoing regarding the reported domestic abuse. Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, and the Brown County District Attorney reduced those initial charges to two misdemeanors: misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property. Even with the reduction, the league’s review is clearly far from over, as players typically get put on the exempt list when the NFL is still digging into a situation to decide what further discipline, like a suspension, is coming down the line.
What’s Next for Jacobs and Green Bay?
Jacobs, at 28 years old, is in the third season of a big four-year, $48 million deal with the Packers. This dude can play, too. Last season, he put up 929 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 4.0 yards per carry, plus he added 282 receiving yards. Before joining Green Bay, he was a beast with the Las Vegas Raiders for five seasons, even leading the entire NFL in rushing with a massive 1,653 yards and earning All-Pro honors in 2022. Losing that kind of production, even for an unknown period, is brutal. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst wasn’t mincing words either, telling The Athletic on Wednesday afternoon that the team was “preparing” for Jacobs to be suspended. That quote tells you everything you need to know about where this is heading.
This news obviously forced Green Bay to make moves. Before Sunday’s Jacobs announcement, the Packers already went out and acquired running back Kaleb Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers. That trade looks a whole lot more critical now. As for Jacobs, he won’t be on the field anytime soon, and the league still might drop the hammer with an additional suspension. It’s a tough start to the season for the Packers, who now have to navigate the opening weeks without their star back, wondering when, or if, he’ll ever step back on the field this year.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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