Aaron Jones took a $5 million pay cut early this offseason, but considering the market for running backs, he still thinks he did well for himself.
Jones said his old contract, which called for him to make $16 million in 2023, just wasn’t feasible for the Packers in a market where Christian McCaffrey’s $12 million makes him the highest-paid running back. Taking a cut down to $11 million still makes Jones think he got a good deal.
“It just made sense, deal-wise. The market for running backs, there was a huge gap between $16 million and Christian McCaffrey who’s at 12,” Jones told reporters. “It still has me as second-highest paid for backs, so it matches up with the market.”
NFL teams are increasingly concluding that running backs just aren’t worth a lot of money, and that limited salary cap space is better spent on other positions. Jones looked at that market and decided it was better to take a pay cut to stay with the Packers than to get cut and test that weak market.
