For Aaron Jones, age is nothing more than a number, and he’ll probably be in Green Bay for some time to come.
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. In essence, the Packersdestroyed the smarter part of their roster the previous off-season, letting go of their most seasoned players, both starters and bench warmers, including 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.
Aaron Jones was a huge impact player this season, so Gutekunst responded, “Yeah, absolutely, we’d love to have him back, but we’re still kind of putting those things together as far as how we’re going to move forward.” 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 slightly restricted.
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.
“For us, it’s finding a way to keep him out there and keep him healthy,” said 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 about Jones coming back, it might have been allayed by his tear at the conclusion of the season, which went against Gutekunst’s plan to build a young roster overall. In between defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round and defeating the Carolina Panthers on Christmas Eve,Jones had the longest run of consecutive 100-yard games in franchise history, with five. 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.
Over the course of his career, Jones has faced the Cowboys four times and amassed 603 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns. In all four games, he has gained over 100 yards in the air and averaged over 5.5 yards per carry. With those last three touchdowns, Jones surpassed Edgar Bennett to have the most post-season running TDs in team history.
Jones, who is approaching his seventh season, will turn thirty in December, right before the Packers are likely to make another deep run into the playoffs. The well-documented wall is coming, just as the greats before him have already experienced; there will come a moment when Jones will no longer move as swiftly or hit specific holes with the same explosiveness as he has in previous years. When that moment comes, Jones hasn’t done anything but
offer proof to the contrary, and given that he is the driving force behind the Packers’ offense, which was performing like the best team in the league for the final two months of the season, they had better hope that this is still the case.
The editor-in-chief of Packer Report is Zachary Jacobson. He will be covering the Green Bay Packers for the ninth season. He belongs to the Association of Football Writers of America. You may reach him by email at itszachariahj@gmail.com or by following him on Twitter at @itszacharyj.
Mike Klis of KUSA reports that Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs, will have an interview with the Denver Broncos on Friday, two days prior to Kansas City’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round. Bieniemy will interview for the first time this coaching cycle at the meeting, as there are other openings across the league.
The Broncos have already met with the defensive coordinators of the Lions, the Packers, the Eagles, the Patriots, the Cowboys, and the Cowboys offensive coordinators Dan Quinn, as well as the quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy. They will also interview with the offensive coordinators of the Bengals, Rams, and their coach, Brian Callahan, this week, according to Pro Football Talk.
With quarterback Patrick Mahomes leading the Chiefs to one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL, Bieniemy has been linked to multiple positions in previous years.
Vic Fangio was let go by the Broncos earlier this month after three seasons, despite Fangio’s inability to lead Denver to a winning record while in that role. Fangio worked as a defensive coordinator and assistant coach for many organizations before moving to Denver. Fangio served as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014 before accepting the same position with the Chicago Bears from 2015 to 2018.
Before Fangio concluded, he was questioned of Denver’s 2021 development. Before dropping their final four games of the season, the Broncos were 7-6.
“That’s a pretty comprehensive question, and it might take some time to answer, but I think this team has improved,” Fangio remarked. “We finished 6-5, having dropped three close games to playoff-bound clubs. We might be able to overcome that setback with a few plays here and there, better calls there, and we’re still in the hunt. Then, we had to be able to go play with last week.what we have, although last week we did have a severely thinned-out roster. Although I don’t usually run for office in public, I answered the question you posed recently when it was posed to me. I would much rather have those conversations with Joe and George.
Get the most recent results, statistics, news, live streaming, and more. Download the CBS Sports Mobile App by clicking HERE to stay up to date on your team’s news right now.
Teddy Bridgewater began the season as the quarterback for the Broncos, but after he was hurt in December, Drew Lock took over. Under Fangio’s leadership, the Broncos’ offense has been dreadful, averaging only 19.4 points per game this season.
The offensive-minded Bieniemy is a contender for the position in part because of this.
The Denver Broncos may be looking to select a quarterback later this month in the NFL Draft; after all, fire frequently follows smoke. The organization selected Drew Lock in the second round of the 2019 draft. In his 18 career starts, Lock has thrown 23 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, and given his history of injuries and patchy play, there are concerns about his long-term stability with the team.
There are several ways the Broncos might go in the opening round….
Leave a Reply