Aaron Jones contract details: RB agrees to one-year deal with Vikings after Packers release

Greener pastures await Aaron Jones.

The Packers dumped their longtime running back after agreeing to a four-year deal with Josh Jacobs. And after a brief spell in the open market, it’s been revealed what colors the 29-year-old tailback will wear come 2024.

Jones is headed to the Vikings, having agreed to a one-year, $7 million deal with Minnesota Tuesday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

A bruising runner capable of snagging passes out in the flat with regularity, Jones is one of the league’s better ball-carriers. His standing as one of the NFL’s more productive rushers — Jones has rushed for the seventh-most yards in football since his debut back in 2017 — will give him some legitimacy, even among those wary of the wretched impact of age on a running back’s productivity.

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With that, here’s what you need to know about Jones’ latest contract.

Aaron Jones contract detailsPer Rapoport, here’s the skinny on the length and value of Jones’ latest deal:

Team: VikingsYears: 1Value: $7 millionJones is taking a pay cut from the $12 million the Packers would have owed him in 2024. Such is the case when your productivity declines due to injury. Jones played in just 11 games in 2023, unable to kick hamstring and knee ailments.

Still, Jones is one of the better tailbacks in all of football and was still effective when healthy. He strung together five straight 100-yard games after returning from injury, helping spearhead Green Bay into the postseason.

That was enough for the Vikings to make him one of the wealthier tailbacks in all of football. Jones’ average annual value (AAV) of $7 million makes him the ninth-highest-paid running back in the league.

Rank Player Team AAV 1 Christian McCaffrey 49ers $16.1 million 2 Saquon Barkley Eagles $15.833 million 3 Alvin Kamara Saints $15 million 4 Jonathan Taylor Colts $14 million 5 Nick Chubb Browns $12.2 million 6 Josh Jacobs Packers $12 million 7 Tony Pollard Titans $8 million   D’Andre Swift Bears $8 million 9 Aaron Jones Packers $7 million   James Conner Cardinals $7 millionJones’ initial contract was identical to the four-year, $48 million pact that Jacobs signed with the Packers. He was in the final season of that deal but carried an expected cap hit of $17.575 million in 2024.

It seems Green Bay preferred to part ways with its aging beauty rather than shell out the money for the longtime Packer.

Jones ends his Green Bay career as one of the sport’s most productive tailbacks, averaging five yards a carry while with the Packers. That’s tied for the fifth-highest average among running backs in NFL history, alongside Pro Football Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders as well as All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor.

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Aaron Jones stats Year G Att. Rush yds YPC Rec. Rec. yds Total TDs 2017 12 81 448 5.5 9 22 4 2018 12 133 728 5.5 26 206 9 2019 16 236 1,084 4.6 49 474 19 2020 14 201 1,104 5.5 47 355 11 2021 15 171 799 4.7 52 391 10 2022 17 213 1,121 5.3 59 395 7 2023 11 142 656 4.6 30 233 3 Career 74 1,201 5,211 4.3 288 2,100 47

Author(s)

David Suggs is a content producer at The Sporting News.