Packers reduced Aaron Jones’ cap number, and he resigned because of…
The Packers laid the foundation for a difficult running back year just over a year ago. Aaron Jones agreed to take a wage cut with them, guaranteeing his presence for the 2023 campaign. That agreement proved fruitful as Jones propelled the squad to the divisional round.
Earlier in the summer, general manager Brian Gutekunst stated that the team intended to keep Jones, who is entering his 29th season. However, the Packers would like to see Jones’ $17MM 2024 cap amount reduced. A reduction of this kind is more difficult to implement because the gifted running back’s contract is ending this year.
According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jones’ agent and Packers executives met on Friday to discuss the modification. It’s unclear how the sides intend to achieve this objective. It’s unclear how driven Green Bay is to take this action as well. Naturally, Jones’ roster position would be in peril if this were an all-or-nothing endeavour. Here, an extension would be beneficial because delving farther into the void years would result in a rise in dead money related to the contract-year RB.
Jones accepted a $5MM reduction in exchange for a last February. The void years from that adjustment run through 2027. Were Jones to depart as a free agent next year, the Pack would be hit with $6.6MM in dead money. Should Green Bay release the productive back now, a post-June 1 designation would probably be necessary. That would only leave the team with $5.7MM in 2024 dead money, while bringing more than $11MM in cap savings. That said, Jones remains a valuable piece and the only veteran presence among the team’s skill-position corps.
A four-year Packer contributor, AJ Dillon is on track for free agency. The between-the-tackles bulldozer is not expected to be re-signed, Silverstein adds. Although Jones battled hamstring and knee injuries in 2023, he returned and ripped off a borderline-dominant stretch to help the Packers make a late-season charge that ended with the team putting a scare into the eventual NFC champion 49ers in Round 2. Jones put together for five consecutive 100-plus-yard rushing games to close the season. Dillon did not fare as well in a contract year.
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