GREEN BAY — There is no more uncertain place to be in professional football than the commissioner’s exempt list. You still get paid. You just cannot play.
Josh Jacobs learned that on Sunday, when the NFL informed him he would be sidelined indefinitely while the league reviews a domestic abuse arrest that surfaced in May. He cannot practice, travel with the team, or participate in any team activities. The Packers, who constructed their backfield around a running back they signed to a four-year, $48 million contract, found themselves without their most dynamic offensive weapon on the final day before the league’s roster cutdown deadline.
The arrest in Wisconsin last May produced two Class A misdemeanor charges (battery and criminal damage to property) following what court documents described as a physical confrontation with his ex-girlfriend. Documents reportedly showed Jacobs throwing the woman to the ground. Neither charge has been resolved. The matter now sits before both the NFL and the Wisconsin courts, with two timelines running independently.
A statement attributed to Jacobs’ representation described the exemption as procedural. “Josh Jacobs has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, which is an administrative procedure used by the NFL while a matter is being reviewed,” the statement read. “It is not a final determination.” Jacobs “respects the NFL process, the Packers, and his coaches and teammates,” the statement continued, adding that he looks forward to returning to the field.
What the exempt list does not provide is a timeline. The league can return Jacobs to the active roster at any point if it determines no suspension is warranted, or it can follow with formal action under the personal conduct policy. Both options remain open simultaneously. The designation simply removes him from active participation while the NFL conducts its review.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur had said before Sunday’s announcement that he “fully anticipate[s] him being a member of our team.” General manager Brian Gutekunst acknowledged the franchise had spent the offseason preparing for the possibility. That preparation became operational by Sunday afternoon.
The backfield response amounts to improvisation at speed. Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd will absorb carries that were not designed for them, and the Packers also acquired Kaleb Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of Sunday’s roster cutdown deadline. The move reads less like depth building and more like contingency planning.
Jacobs gave the Packers something that roster additions do not fully replace. His 929 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns last season reflected a player functioning as a genuine offensive weapon, one who gave Jordan Love short-yardage options and kept opposing defenses from committing entirely to the pass. Green Bay ranked ninth in passing yards last season and does not rely on a ground game to function. But the Jacobs who scored 14 times in 2025 was not a volume back. He was a threat, and that is the dimension that disappears with his exemption.
The 2026 NFL season opens September 13, when the Packers face the Minnesota Vikings, a conference opponent that now enters the game aware that Green Bay’s backfield is operating without its primary option. The early-season calendar also includes a projected showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles, a game already profiled as one of the NFC’s more significant early tests.
This episode comes months after a separate Packers legal matter drew headlines. Lineman Rasheed Walker was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on a weapons charge in January, a case that did not result in an exempt list designation. The distinction reflects the nature of the allegations. Domestic abuse cases trigger the NFL’s personal conduct policy in a way that other charges do not, and the league’s threshold for intervention is lower when the allegations involve a victim within a personal relationship.
As Yahoo Sports reported, the misdemeanor charges were formally filed in August, and the exempt list designation followed shortly after. The charges are not convictions. The exempt list is not a suspension. But for a team opening its 2026 season in thirteen days, the practical difference is difficult to locate.
Whether Jacobs returns before the season costs Green Bay something meaningful remains the open question. The review timeline is the NFL’s to control. The season, and what it produces without their RB1, is not.
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