According to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article, the Green Bay Packers visited with the agents of star running back Aaron Jones during the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis in an attempt to modify his contract and reduce his cap number.
The 29-year-old Jones will count $11 million against the cap this season; the Packers would prefer to see this amount drastically reduced, especially since quarterback Jordan Love is expected to receive a huge contract deal this offseason.
“The Packers would release him and then hope whatever they are offering isn’t matched on the open market,” Tom Silverstein said, if the two are unable to come to an agreement in the next two weeks. They would have an opportunity to re-sign him at their terms if it wasn’t.
The Packers would create $11.85 million in additional cap space for the 2024 season and incur a $5.71 million dead money charge if they released Jones prior to the start of the new league year and designated him as a June 1 cut.
In addition to earning a $11 million base salary in the last year of a four-year contract he signed with the Packers back in 2021, Jones is expected to count $17.5 million against the cap this next season.
There is some power that general manager Brian Gutekunst and the Packers have over Jones, particularly considering the abundance of free agency running backs that Jones would be joining if he were released by Green Bay.
Among this year’s free-agent running backs, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Tony Pollard, Austin Ekeler, and D’Andre Swift are major star players. Jones had to struggle with hamstring and knee issues during the season, so it’s unclear if he would command one of the best contracts available.
The Packers only have about $12.7 million in cap space, despite the salary cap rising to $255.4 million this summer.
As Spotrac notes, Jones’ anticipated contract is estimated to be approximately $5.1 million for a year, which is significantly less than his market value.
Given its apparent leverage in these talks, Green Bay is probably going to favor allocating a significant portion of Jones’ existing salary space to positions with higher value on the team.
One of the greatest beneficiaries of the salary cap increase is the Packers, who may be able to afford Gutekunst to be a little more aggressive when free agency commences.
When asked about the rising salary cap by reporters at the NFL Combine, Gutekunst responded, “It gives us some more flexibility.” However, I believe that what matters most is the choices we make going forward and our attempt to maintain flexibility throughout the course of the next few years. However, it does afford us some additional breathing room.
“This kind of solidifies what I said before—that nothing would stop us from pursuing players or carrying out our desired actions.”
Love expressed a great deal of hope about the Packers’ future, saying that they intend to make significant progress in 2024 after making it back to the NFL Playoffs and the NFC Divisional Playoffs the previous season.
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