The Las Vegas Raiders kept running back Josh Jacobs out of free agency last year after he led the NFL in rushing yards in the 2022 season. But after using the franchise tag on Jacobs in 2023 didn’t result in a long-term contract for the former Alabama running back, the Raiders lost him in free agency this time around.

Jacobs will sign with the Green Bay Packers when his current contract with Las Vegas expires at 3 p.m. CDT Wednesday, according to multiple media reports.

The running back weighed in on the reports by reposting on his X account a video post by the NFL of his highlights that carried the message: “Get ready, Green Bay, Josh Jacobs is coming.”

After reaching an agreement with Jacobs, the Packers told their current No. 1 running back, Aaron Jones, that he would be released, ESPN reported on Monday. Jones had one season remaining on a four-year, $48 million contract. He had a base salary for the 2024 season of $11.1 million, which was not guaranteed.

Jones is a three-time 1,000-yard rusher and a 2020 Pro Bowl selection. Last season, Jones missed six games, ran for 656 yards and two touchdowns on 142 carries and caught 30 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown.

A first-round draft choice in 2019, Jacobs has spent his five NFL seasons with the Raiders, and his 5,545 rushing yards rank third in franchise history behind Marcus Allen’s 8,545 and Mark van Eeghen’s 5,907.

Jacobs was the Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019, the first of his three 1,000-yard seasons. He earned Pro Bowl selection in 2020 and 2022. In the latter season, Jacobs led the NFL with 1,653 rushing yards and 2,053 yards from scrimmage and made first-team All-Pro.

When Las Vegas used its franchise tag to prevent the rushing champion from becoming a free agent last year, it guaranteed Jacobs a $10.091 million payday for the 2023 season and earned a four-month extension to work out a multi-year deal with the running back.

But the team failed to do so, and Jacobs never signed the franchise-tag tender. Once the deadline passed, NFL rules prohibited the Raiders from offering Jacobs anything but a one-year contract.

Jacobs stayed away from the team until he signed about two weeks before the Raiders’ season-opening game.

In the end, Jacobs signed a contract that had $10.091 million in guaranteed money – the value of the franchise tag. The contract also paid Jacobs $100,000 for every game he was on Las Vegas’ game-day roster and had performance incentives. The team ended up paying Jacobs $11.791 million during the 2023 season,

Despite the late entry into Las Vegas’ preparations for the 2023 season, Jacobs was in the starting lineup for the opening game on Sept. 10. But his output dropped to 805 rushing yards and 1,101 yards from scrimmage as he missed the final four games of the season with a quadriceps injury.

Terms of Jacobs’ contract with the Packers have not been reported.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.