The team said that even if Jacobs were to be claimed by another team off waivers, he would not be eligible to play during the postseason and only once the Super Bowl was done — so, that certainly came into the timing of the move.

When asked during his news conference Monday whether Jacobs would be reinstated, coach Jim Harbaugh offered only, "No, he will not.”

Jacobs was suspended Dec. 10, though the team didn’t explain why he was being punished. Yet it was pretty clear following a series of posts by Jacobs on social media sites in the days prior addressing his lack of playing time.

Jacobs had five carries for 7 yards while playing in only two games and being active for just three for the NFC West champions (11-4-1).

Whether Jacobs will get another chance is unclear. Some believe his antics might have finally cost him.

The 30-year-old Jacobs spent his first seven NFL seasons with the New York Giants and has called this his "worst” year — though he knew full well he was joining a crowded backfield that features three-time Pro Bowler Frank Gore as one of the faces of the franchise.

Earlier in December, he posted a series of photos of himself playing for the Giants — and even a picture of his two Super Bowl championship rings, side by side.

"I am on this team rotting away so why would I wanna put any pics up of anything that say niners,” Jacobs said in an Instagram post. "This is by far the worst year I ever had, I’ll tell you like I told plenty others.”

On Twitter later, Jacobs said: "I don’t understand why people are angry at me because I wanna do what I am paid to do, I am a competitive person, I think people should be mad if I didn’t wanna play. ... As for all of my Instagram photos I don’t have any niner pics, if you’ll find me some pics I’ll put them up.”

Jacobs, hampered by a left knee injury earlier this season, would spend approximately 20 minutes before games punching the goal-post padding. He said it was his way of dealing with the frustration of the situation.

In November, Jacobs posted advice on Twitter with a reference to never working "in a place where you hate your boss so much, you should always be happy at work” with a hash tag of "YouLiveAndYouLearn.” His post came the same day Harbaugh was hospitalized for a minor procedure for an irregular heartbeat.

Jacobs then said people shouldn’t "assume” his remarks were football-related, then followed up with more tweets — including one reading "football is not my life, people” and another saying, "Have you ever been in a spot and you wonder why are you there.”

Later, he posted that his tweets referred to his brother’s boss, who makes "him feel like he is the best thing since slice bread but when the budget is shot he is the first one get laid off, same with two other people I know.”

Jacobs ran for 571 yards and seven touchdowns last season with New York as a backup to Ahmad Bradshaw. He is the fourth-leading rusher in Giants franchise history with 4,849 yards, but saw his role diminish with the emergence of Bradshaw and became increasingly disgruntled.

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