NFL Removes Josh Jacobs From Exempt List After 6 Games, Clearing Week 7 Return

Q: Why does the league need to see the violent video when Jacobs has already pleaded no contest to domestic battery?

Because the NFL is not bound by the criminal court’s limited finding. A no-contest plea resolves the case legally, but under the league’s Personal Conduct Policy the NFL makes its own discipline decision and can punish conduct even when charges are reduced, dismissed, or not fully litigated. The video matters because it can show severity, context, and whether the baseline six-game penalty for domestic battery should be increased. League officials have said they are reserving the right to add games depending on what the footage shows. Police reports say surveillance video corroborated at least part of the accuser’s account, but the NFL wants to see the actual images before fixing the penalty. There is also a strong institutional reason: the Ray Rice case. The NFL was heavily criticized in 2014 for acting before fully resolving what video evidence showed. If Jacobs were cleared to play or given only a standard suspension and the footage later proved more graphic or damaging, the league could face the same kind of backlash. So the video is not needed to prove guilt in the criminal sense; Jacobs’ plea already addressed that case. The NFL wants it to judge how violent the incident was, whether aggravating factors exist, and to protect itself from making a disciplinary decision that looks incomplete once the footage becomes public or reaches the league later.

3 articles · Updated · Bleacher Report · Oct 16

Friday's move makes Josh Jacobs eligible for Green Bay's Oct. 25 game against Detroit after he missed six games on the Commissioner Exempt List.
The NFL had sidelined Jacobs on Aug. 30, days after he was charged over a May dispute with his then-girlfriend; he later pleaded no contest and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
Under his agreement with prosecutors, the criminal-damage charge can be dismissed in a year if Jacobs stays out of trouble, avoids the victim, completes counseling, submits to supervision and pays restitution.
Green Bay enters Week 7 at 3-2 and has badly missed Jacobs, ranking last in rushing at 60.4 yards per game and 31st in yards per carry at 3.1.