Green Bay Packers: Re-sign Aaron Jones or let him walk?

Aaron Jones is a key piece of the Green Bay Packers offense but is he worth an extension?

The Green Bay Packers are once again the champions of the NFC North after defeating their divisional rivals, the Detroit Lions, 31-24, to assert them at the top of the NFC standings.

While many guys are having career years, such as quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Davante Adams, who are both playing out of their minds, one guy who’s name isn’t brought up as frequently as it once was, is running back Aaron Jones and he just so happens to be in a contract year.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of UTEP, it’s safe to say that Jones was an absolute gem of a pick. It was until his first season under head coach Matt LeFleur (2019) that he proved to the league that he’s an elite running back.

After playing in all 16-games, reaching his first 1,000 rushing yard season while totaling 19 touchdowns and 478 receiving yards, Jones was robbed of his first Pro Bowl appearance. But no one was arguing his talent and production.

With many players in the NFL who have a monstrous season, though, the following year is usually a different story. Thus far, after Week 14 of the 2020 season, Jones has missed two games due to a calf injury and has had only two games in which he reached 100 rushing yards (Week 2, Week 13).

However, his numbers have not dropped off as drastically as many might say. He still is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, boasting a career-high 74.8 rushing yards per game average, and has shown solid improvement in his receiving abilities as well.

Should the Green Bay Packers lock Aaron Jones up to a contract extension?

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: Does Aaron Jones deserve to be paid as one of the top running backs in the NFL?

Yes, he deserves to be paid as one of the best backs but not the best. The explosive runner has proven to be an absolute gamechanger for the Green Bay Packers but he’s not at the same level as a Christian McCaffrey nor Derrick Henry by any means. To be frank, he’s not even in the same sentence as those players.

The Green Bay offense is dynamic enough where any elusive back can thrive in the system. Jones just so happens to be their perfect mold as a guy who can explode out of the backfield, shake tackles, power his way through the defense and with the juice to score from any point on the field. With that being said, the Packers need to view this situation as “would we win more games with Aaron Jones or without when considering a big new cap hit”?

Seeing guys like Alvin Kamara (five years, $75 million) and Ezekiel Elliott (six years, $90 million) receive massive paychecks certainly gives Jones an expectation of how he wants his contract extension to look. Additionally, Jones recently switched agents after a contract standstill and now the pressure is going to be coming hard on the front office.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, on the other hand, is looking at the Dallas Cowboys and Elliott and wondering if it’s worth paying a player at the position that much. Much of the analytics community would argue to the negative.

At the end of the 2020 NFL season, Super Bowl champion or not, Jones will get his money — but whether it’s the Green Bay Packers who give it to him or a different team is yet to be determined.

If the Packers are truly in win-now mode with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, then this extension needs to happen as soon as possible in the event Jones has a terrific postseason and will demand even more money. If the franchise is still on the fence about going all-in, then we’ll likely see Jones playing for another team in 2021.