GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers did not use the franchise tag to retain Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, but they still have one more shot to retain him before he hits free agency.
The source told Schefter that the Packers are still attempting to re-sign him before he gets there. They retain exclusive negotiating rights with Jones until Monday, when unrestricted free agents can begin talking to other teams.
The tag would have cost the Packers about $8 million. They’re currently about $10.6 million over their projected salary cap and will have to make roster moves or restructure existing contracts in order to get under the limit by next Wednesday.
Jones, a fifth-round pick by the Green Bay Packers out of UTEP in 2017, ranked fourth in the NFL last season with 1,104 rushing yards despite missing two games with a calf injury. He made his first Pro Bowl — becoming the lowest-drafted Packers’ running back since Dorsey Levens (also a fifth-round pick) in 1997 to do so.
It was Jones’ second straight 1,000-yard rushing season. He rushed for 1,084 yards and led the NFL with 19 touchdowns in 2019. Including playoffs that season, he scored 23 times, the most for a season in team history.
Jones, 26, is one of only two players in NFL history to post 3,000-plus yards rushing (3,364) and 35-plus rushing touchdowns (37) with an average of 5-plus yards per carry (5.2) in their first four seasons. Jim Brown is the other.
The Packers had been in contract talks with Jones since February 2020. Late last season, Jones, who became frustrated with the lack of guaranteed money that the Packers were offering, changed agents and hired Drew Rosenhaus to represent him. At the time, the Packers had offered Jones a deal that would have paid him among the top-five running backs in the NFL in terms of average per year, a source told ESPN, but not in guaranteed money.
The Packers drafted running back AJ Dillon in the second round last year as insurance against losing Jones and/or Jamaal Williams, who also was entering the final year of his contract.