How sincerely can a league say it protects women while one of its most recognizable running backs keeps taking handoffs? Tony Farmer asked that on Oct. 17, and the question has only sharpened since.
Farmer, an NFL analyst on X, posted on Nov. 1st, issuing a warning that the Packers RB may face another suspension.
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“I think we are going to learn today that Josh Jacobs is suspended again.”
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He was reacting to Josh Jacobs facing three more allegations from three different women after he had already faced abuse accusations from his then-girlfriend, who has not been publicly identified, for which the running back was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list.
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Over the weekend, police records obtained by NBC 26 showed that three more women had accused Jacobs of physical abuse in incidents from 2021 and 2022, when he played for the Las Vegas Raiders. None of those accounts produced charges. The NFL told The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero it would “review these allegations as part of the investigation which has remained open.”
Jacobs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff, Richard Schonfeld and Clarence Duchac, said he “denies all three accounts” and called the claims “unsupported and stale.” The timeline cuts both ways. Jacobs, 28, pleaded no contest in September to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property from the May incident, and the Brown County district attorney reviewed the other accounts for months without filing on any of them.
As of Sunday, no formal suspension had been issued, and Jacobs remained eligible to play. Ian Rapoport framed the live issue on NFL GameDay:
“The big question here, along with the veracity of these claims, was Jacobs up front with the league? Their review continues. He’s gonna continue to play. But it is possible that he gets a suspension at the end of this.”
The parameters are public. The collective bargaining agreement sets six games as the baseline for domestic violence cases; ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has reported that people around the league have discussed a four-to-six-game range. Time already spent on the exempt list can be credited toward a suspension, but Jacobs would owe back the game checks, $566,666 apiece, per The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones. If the league ever gets the garage video his lawyers have fought to seal, the math changes.
What are the Packers’ Josh Jacobs replacement options?
Green Bay is 5-3 and still last in the league in rushing. MarShawn Lloyd has taken the largest share of the carries, Kaleb Johnson arrived from Pittsburgh for a 2028 sixth-round pick, and Chris Brooks and Pierre Strong Jr. have cycled through. None of them has changed a game.
So the trade market matters. The Packers have been linked to Jonathan Taylor, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Indianapolis is “now open” to moving him before the Nov. 10 deadline. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has suggested the new allegations could push Green Bay toward planning a future without Jacobs, whose contract carries no guaranteed money and runs through 2027.
The Packers face the Patriots, Vikings, and Rams in November. As they trail in the NFC North, the running game becomes a big requirement for the team’s chances to make a playoff run. However, since Josh Jacobs returned to the Packers lineup on Oct. 25 after being on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, the overall rushing stats have gotten worse. The Packers running backs averaged 53.8 rushing yards per game before Jacobs returned, and that figure actually dropped to 52 yards per game.
Jordan Love is in his MVP form, but needs support. What does the running game look like if the suspension finally lands?
Edited by Aman Kashyap
