The Showtime will go on.
Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones will return to the the team this season after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the star has accepted a restructuring of his contract. There was some speculation the Packers might not be able to bring Jones back without re-working his 4 year, 48 million dollar extension he signed two years go. Jones was scheduled to earn 16 million dollars this season with a seven million dollar roster bonus due next month. Instead, Jones will swap the roster bonus for a signing bonus of 8.52 million dollars, allowing the team to stretch that figure over the final two years of his contract bringing his 2023 overall salary down to 11 million dollars, giving the Packers additional cap space. Jones expressed a desire to return after rushing for 1121 yards last season with seven touchdowns, five coming in the passing game where he also excels.
This may not be the last contract to be restructred. All Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari has a large cap number exceeding 20 million dollars. He was able to return after missing a year and half following major knee surgery and was playing well only to be sidelined in December because of an emergency appendectomy. The Packers will have to weigh his durability versus the cost and may explore ways to move money to create even more cap space, especially if Aaron Rodgers decides he wants to return for a 19th season in Green Bay with a cap figure of more than 31 million dollars and a salary at 59.5 million. Rodgers is taking his darkness/isolation retreat this weekend to contemplate his future.
Without more creative contract work, that future might involve not having some of the quarterback’s veteran friends around as Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis and Mason Crosby will all have deals expiring next month, making them unrestricted free agents. Another reason the Packers would like an answer from Rodgers not long after he emerges from the dark after the weekend.
