Skip to main content

The Evolution of Aaron Jones and the Emergence of a Packers Superstar

Jones had to wait until his third season to be unleashed in Green Bay, and as the Packers begin their potential playoff run on Sunday against the Seahawks, they may be leaning on him more than ever. After two years of waiting, everyone has finally gotten a chance to see what Aaron Jones can be. And the Packers head coach feels like this is just the start. โ€œItโ€™s something weโ€™re going to build on in the future,โ€ LaFleur says. โ€œWeโ€™ve got to make sure that weโ€™re creative and using him in the right wayโ€”because he is a valuable, dangerous weapon.โ€

It's the same problem every good RB coming up for their second contract has in negotiations. It's even more acute for Jones because he as a 5th round pick he's only making 650K a year.

Now there is a potential for him to get franchised at 10 million a year. That's obviously a lot of money, but he might end up being the 7th highest-paid player. He's got a very high risk of being injured due to the position he plays and once a RB gets a leg injury and lose their explosiveness they lose their effectiveness very quickly and get let go fast. Zeke Elliott is dinged up this year and is averaging under 4 yards a carry. His 35 million dollar cap hit from his extension already looks like a bad decision. Gurley was gone from the Rams very quickly once his knee arthritis became a problem. The two Packer RBs that signed bigger extensions in the post-Wolf era (Green and Levens) both ended up being bad contracts. Relative to other players on the roster, they "deserved" the money given their importance, but it almost never works out for the team to give a big-money contract.

I think this ends up with Jones holding out after being tagged unless the Packers give him a questionable contract. You can't blame him and you can't blame the Packers. It's the nature of how RBs get exploited by contracts relative to other positions in the NFL. RBs like Jones average 20-25 touches a game and have to pick up blitzing LBs or chip on DL another 5-10 times a game. In all those cases, they are getting hit by bigger guys with running starts. Even a high-usage WR like Adams may get 15 targets a game and only get hit 5 times (running out of bounds on others) usually by guys their own size. OL and DL get hit a lot, but it's from guys their own size and mostly from guys that start standing still from 3 feet away (and leg injuries don't eliminate what makes OL good as much as RBs).

I love Jones.  He's awesome.  But you don't break the bank for a RB*.

It's a passing league.  If Love is the starter, maybe you give Jones the money now because you're saving on a QB's first contract.  My guess is they drafted Dillon knowing they were not gonna give Aaron the big contract.  Otherwise, the Dillon pick was shortsighted.

*and by "break the bank", I mean not even "franchise" a RB

Last edited by PackLandVA

He fired his agent it appears...



Rob Demovsky ESPN Staff Writer

Aaron Jones is seeking new representation as he heads into the final month of the season with an expiring contract, sources told ESPN. The two sides have been in on-going negotiations but were unable to reach a deal, and now it appears they're starting over. No paperwork has been filed with NFLPA yet to name a new agent.

Last edited by packerboi

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×