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In 2021 he was 21st in "touches per game". I get that you don't want to wear him out / risk injury by overuse, but .... the thought with Dillon is "big back, push the line and he can get the ball in the end zone from inside the 2-3 yard line".  The problem is that we don't have that type of o-line. If there is an unblocked defender in the hole one-on-one with the RB, who do you think has a better chance of turning his body to avoid direct contact, and get in the end zone? We struggled inside the 5 yard line and having your best on the field seemed like it could have helped.

The same things that are said about AJ's age/contract/etc. can be said of any player with same/similar circumstances.

For every reason there might be to trade/cut him, there are just as many--or more-- to justify keeping him.

The hard part, of course, is coming up with a contract that fits within the salary cap (current and future years), and is enough money to satisfy AJ. I think his last contract was a little over-valued, so I hope he's not looking at a deal close to that.

@YATittle posted:

Well, Aaron Jones may be the next cap casualty.

https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/...with-aaron-jones-321

In 2022, Ezekiel Elliott had a cap hit of $18.2M. That's the only time in NFL history that a running back had a cap hit over $15M.

Aaron Jones's cap his for next year is $20.02M.

It's the De'Andre Hopkins deal of running back contracts.

Three backs (Ezekiel Elliott at $16.72M, Derrick Henry at $16.37M, and Alvin Kamara at $16.09M) are clustered close together in second, third, and fourth place for 2023 scheduled cap hits, which shows just how far above the market Jones's figure is, even as salaries increase.

Aaron Jones would be the 14th highest cap hit among quarterbacks for next season!

As good as he is, there's just no way to justify that cap hit... especially on a team with negative $13M in cap space for next year (per Spotrac).

Cutting Jones would save the team about $10M.

Trading him would save the same amount and give the team who receives him a much more manageable contract.

A cut or trade are the only ways to move forward with out simply prolonging the pain.

@Chongo posted:

Packers are good at bizniss...my guess it Rosenweasel wasn't willing to take enough of a cut and forced the Packers hand. They don't toss away players lightly...in fact if anything, they've had a history of hanging on to some guys a little too long.

You don't sign with Rosenhaus as a player if you are going to do a team-friendly discount at any point. We all love Jones, but the explanation for what's happened the last few years is that Rosenhaus knew the Packers were going to pay Jones the most of any team from 2020-23, and now he knows that someone else will pay more than the Packers were offering on a restructured contract.

I'm sure Jones loved playing in Green Bay, but when you hire Rosenhaus a move to another team almost always eventually happens.

The Pack was in sort of a tough spot with Aaron Jones.  Through Dec. 23rd of 2023, his best game rushing wise was 20 rushes for 73 yards.  Yep, that was his BEST game up until Christmas eve.  As of December 23rd, it was inevitable he was done as a Packer. 

But then came December 24th through January 20th.  Had over 100 yards 5 games in a row and looked great doing it.  It was crazy just how it almost looked like a switch got turned on and he turned back the clock for 1 month. 

So clearly, Jones flashed that he isn't completely done like it looked as of December 23rd.  That said, I totally understand why the Pack no longer thinks he is a true #1 back for a 17 game season plus playoffs. 

I thought all along, that if the Pack was somehow going to be able to keep Jones, they would have to look for a legitimate starter in the draft.  This is a draft where there just aren't as many sure fire RB starters as there are some other years.  Maybe in time we'll see a few RBs emerge from this draft and regret we didn't get them, but at least with Jacobs you have a guy that led the entire NFL in rushing in 2022 and is quite a bit younger than Jones. 

I hate losing Jones as he would have been a great #2 RB, but I totally get why they couldn't make it work with him in terms of money since he still believes he's a #1 and certainly played like it for 1 month. 

I always liked Aaron Jones game as a RB.

I loved Aaron Jones the Packer player, and his final 5 games in Green and Gold were really, really good.

I consider Josh Jacobs to be a meh signing, but given the circumstances that we are learning about an understandable one.

I am the opposite of an uncritical Gutey fanboy and will continue to point out his failings.

However, if the reporting is accurate and Aaron could have played for $6M in GB but instead will now play for $7M with the Sam Darnold-led Queens in 2024, that seems like a bad career decision and the individuals responsible for that poor decision are Aaron and his agent.

Indeed, if anything, seeing Aaron signing a 1 year, $7M deal only enhances my opinion Gutey.

Now, if Gutey is able to add a RB with a legitimate burst to pair with Jacobs, Aaron Jones will likely be missed in 2024 almost as much as 2022 Packers leading WR Alan Lazard was missed by Packer fans in 2023.

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