Raiders mailbag: Jacobs, Garoppolo, Tyree Wilson on minds of fans

The deadline for the Raiders to sign Josh Jacobs to a contract extension came and went this week. That means the star running back either has to play this season on the $10.09 million franchise tag or not play at all.

It is unlikely he reports to training camp next week, and while the expectation is that he will arrive in time to play this season, until he does there will be some anxiety among Raiders fans.

Hence, the multiple questions that arrived in this week’s Raiders mailbag about Jacobs.

Here is a sampling of what we received:

Steve @ Vegas Raiders Blog (@VegasRaidersBlg): To clarify: If Josh Jacobs sits this year, he’d pay a ton in fines, not get paid, his service time wouldn’t accrue and the Raiders can just tag him again next season, correct?

He’d basically be in the exact same position except now a year older and a year without playing.

Vincent Bonsignore: Close, but with one key difference.

Jacobs has not yet signed his franchise tag tender, so he is technically not under contract. As a result, he is not subject to being fined if he sits out training camp.

Everything else is accurate. In fact, to make sure he is credited for one season of service time, he must sign the tender by no later than the Tuesday following the 10th week of the season.

Matt Berger (@matt_berger): What’s the latest on Tyree Wilson? Is he on pace to join the team on day one of training camp?

VB: Wilson, who injured a foot last November in his final season at Texas Tech, will begin training camp on the NFI (non-football injury) list, it was learned Friday.

The move is not unexpected. The Raiders’ plan all along was to prudent and careful with Wilson, whom they drafted with the seventh pick overall in April’s draft. Remember, it’s been seven months since he was full-go on a football field, and you have to wonder how feasible it is to just unleash him unabated to start camp.

The more practical approach is to ramp him up a little bit, maybe for a week or so, to get his conditioning, endurance and body to a place better suited to deal with the rigors of NFL practices and a full season.

Rob Taylor (@Hossco75): I really hope the reports are correct about Jacobs and playing this year.

VB: Realistically, it makes the most sense for him. Remember, he’s still just years old, so he’ll get another at-bat relative to a long-term deal, health permitting, perhaps as early as next March. It makes sense for him to play and pocket a sum of money he can never recoup.

marie brow (@mbcaron78): If you had to guess, how much of his offense did Josh McDaniels install last year? If the offense changes this year, will it set back the progress that was made last year?

VB: Just guessing, but the sense of they were probably halfway into the playbook by the end of the season. In some respects that process begins anew in training camp, but safe to say there is a much greater foundation going into this season compared to last year.

Spitfire2328 (@spitfire2328): Even though it’d be costly for running backs, do you think they’ll get together and take a stand and hold out of games for better pay? Drastic measures need to happen, or is there another way you think running backs should go about it?

VB: The thing is, if something gets adjusted to help out the pay of running backs, it will inevitably come at the expense of another position. It’s literally just a redistribution of the wealth — in this case, the salary cap total of each team.

Bryant (@Rva_Raiders83): When is Jimmy Garoppolo going to take his physical?

VB: The guess is early next week.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.