The 2023 NFL offseason involved multiple teams moving pricey running back contracts off their payroll, while others — the Packers included — reached pay cut agreements with veteran starters.
Aaron Jones‘ contract runs through 2024 and sees its cap number increase significantly, seemingly putting the accomplished back on unstable ground.
GM Brian Gutekunst may be putting a stop to talk of Jones leaving Green Bay, however, indicating (via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman) that the Packers “absolutely” expect their starting running back to be on the 2024 roster.
Jones has been with the Packers since 2017. Of the deep 2017 RB draft class, only he, Alvin Kamara and Joe Mixon remain with the teams that selected them.
Jones agreed to take a $5M pay cut last February, with that deal adding an $8.52M signing bonus. The restructure added void years to the veteran back’s deal and trimmed his 2023 cap figure to $8.2M. The cap hit spikes to $17M in 2024, potentially pointing to another Packers move to address their top RB’s deal.
A Jones extension would make sense, as the void years on the current deal would bring a $6.6M dead-money hit if he is not re-signed before the 2025 league year.
Teams are no longer making a habit of re-upping backs in their late 20s, though. The Packers gave Jones a four-year, $48M deal just before free agency in 2021, changing course after several years of not paying running backs.
The NFL largely opted to squeeze RBs last year, bringing another value drop for a position long past its prestige peak.
Jones, 29, missed time this past season due to MCL and hamstring issues. These injuries caused the seven-year veteran to miss six games.
But the UTEP alum proved effective when available, finishing the season surging. Returning to action in Week 14, the former fifth-round pick closed the season with five consecutive 100-yard rushing performances.
This counted two in the playoffs, springing the Packers past the Cowboys and nearly upsetting the No. 1 seed 49ers six days later. Jones’ veteran presence certainly helped a Packers team reliant on nothing but first- or second-year pass-catchers.
AJ Dillon is coming off a sluggish contract year and is set to hit free agency at a bad time — a crowded RB market is set to form.
Jones being released — a move that would come with $12M in dead money without a post-Jun. 1 designation — would send him to a market that could well house Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard and D’Andre Swift.
Dillon is unlikely to secure a lucrative deal in this market. The Packers losing Jones would also create a major need, albeit at a position that is among the easiest to fill.
Additionally, Gutekunst made an effort to cool down Jaire Alexander trade rumors. The longtime Packers GM said, via Schneidman, that no consideration is being given to trading Alexander.
Following Alexander’s coin-toss fiasco that led to a one-game suspension, a report injected doubt about the highly paid cornerback’s Wisconsin future. The Packers owe Alexander an $8M roster bonus on Mar. 20.
The Packers gave Alexander a four-year, $84M extension — one that remains the NFL’s high-water AAV mark for corners — in 2022 but have seen the former first-round pick miss extensive time due to injuries over the past three seasons.
After a shoulder malady cost Alexander most of the 2021 season, he missed 10 games this year. That and the costly contract dent Alexander’s trade value. That said, Pro Football Focus rated the six-year veteran in the top 25 at the position this season.
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