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GM of the Packers: We “definitely” want Aaron Jones to return to Green Bay in 2024.
Brian Gutekunst, general manager of the Green Bay Packers, answered a question on Thursday about whether Aaron Jones, the team’s best running back, will lead the backfield next season without holding back.
He expects the 29-year-old to be there, regardless of the rumors surrounding his future, no matter what heights the Packers reach or the equally realistic lows they’ll hit. Last off-season, the Packers essentially cut down on the most seasoned members of their roster, including starters Adrian Amos, Marcedes Lewis, Allen Lazard, and Aaron Rodgers, who was traded to the New York Jets after serving as the team’s signal caller for 15 years.
There were reportedly no intentions to move on from Jones, and maybe for good reason—not even in the midst of a youth uprising. Even though Jones is the third-oldest player on the team (after Preston Smith, 31), and De’Vondre Campbell, 30, Jones may still be playing his finest football yet, particularly if the form he showed in the last stretch of the 2023 season continues into the following one.
“Yes, without a doubt, we would welcome Aaron Jones back, but we’re still sorting those things out in terms of how we’re going to go ahead,” Gutekunst remarked. “He was such a difference-maker this year.” When he was in there and in good health, the offense was able to flow, and he significantly altered the way we conducted ourselves.”
It’s possible that the Packers will need to modify Jones’ deal in order to adhere to their pay cap, but that is hardly unprecedented. They have already altered the terms of his contract several times; the most recent being during the off-season, when they reduced his pay by around $5 million.
At 5’9″ and 208 pounds, Jones is undersized, so the Packers have always placed a high priority on keeping him upright—even under Matt LaFleur’s predecessor, Mike McCarthy. In favor of Jamaal Williams, who the Packers selected 48 positions ahead of Jones in the 2017 draft, his usage was rather minimal.
Sometimes, even a few years later, it has still been the case. It’s hard to say whether the Packers gave AJ Dillon, a 2020 second-round pick from Boston College, the majority of Jones’ touches because of his draft status or because they thought his 247-pound frame would help the offense, but most of the time the offense didn’t move as quickly as it did when Jones was there. But it was vital to keep Jones fresh.
Jones sustained a hamstring injury in the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 10 and missed several games as a result. He pulled up and grabbed his back thigh as he crossed into the end zone during a 35-yard catch-and-run. In his lone appearance on September 28 against the Detroit Lions, he had just six touches and missed three games between that game and the Denver Broncos loss on October 22.
His reappearance was fleeting. After being back in the starting lineup for five games, Jones suffered his sixth medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee.
Finding a means to keep him active and healthy is our priority, according to Gutekunst. “You guys already know that he’s a really powerful leader in our locker room off the field. He truly is our team’s lifeblood. It’s sort of the expectation that he will return.”
If there was any doubt that Jones would return, given that it would go against Gutekunst’s plan to build a young roster overall, his season-ending tear might have allayed those fears. Jones recorded five consecutive 100-yard games, the longest stretch in franchise history, between a victory over the Carolina Panthers on Christmas Eve and the 49ers’ defeat in the Divisional Round. This includes 118 yards—including 131 from scrimmage—against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card game. They scored three touchdowns to cap off an absolute slaughter of the NFC’s top-seeded team.
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