The NFL is removing Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs and Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper from the Commissioner’s Exempt List, making both eligible to return to play while league investigations into their cases remain open, according to the supplied report published Oct. 16, 2026.
Cooper was to be removed immediately. Denver had already played its Week 6 game, so the linebacker could be eligible for the Broncos’ Week 7 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Jacobs was scheduled to leave the list on Monday, after Green Bay’s Sunday night game against the Dallas Cowboys, and could then be eligible for the Packers’ Week 7 game against the Detroit Lions.
The two players had missed the opening portion of the season while on the list in connection with domestic-abuse allegations and legal proceedings. Their removal does not conclude the NFL’s investigations. The report says the league may consider further discipline if additional information about either player’s offseason incident emerges.
Jacobs’ criminal case has reached a different stage from Cooper’s. According to the report, Jacobs entered a no-contest plea on Sept. 10 to misdemeanor battery and criminal-damage-to-property charges involving his former girlfriend. He was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, attend counseling, pay restitution for damaged property and avoid contact with the woman. The report says the property-damage charge is to be dismissed if Jacobs complies with the conditions for one year.
Cooper has pleaded not guilty and has not gone to trial. The report says he was arrested twice in June 2026 in incidents involving his then-girlfriend. The first arrest followed an argument, and Cooper initially faced a criminal-mischief charge. Authorities later alleged he violated a protective order and charged him with second-degree assault by strangulation, third-degree assault, repeated-call harassment and violating the order.
The report lists a pretrial hearing and a motions hearing for February, with a trial tentatively scheduled for March. It says the trial’s outcome could lead to Cooper receiving another suspension at the start of the 2027 NFL season under the league’s Personal Conduct Policy. That is a possible future consequence, not a reported decision by the NFL.
The lifting of the exempt-list restrictions therefore changes the players’ eligibility, but does not resolve the league’s separate inquiries or the outstanding proceedings in Cooper’s case. The source does not report any further NFL disciplinary action as of its publication time.
