by GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers’ easiest offseason decision was to restructure running back Aaron Jones’ contract to account for his $20 million salary cap.
It was more a question of whether Jones would go along with it.
The Packers, desperate for salary cap space and hedging their bets on a 29-year-old running back, demanded a $5 million salary cut from $16 million to $11 million, and in turn converted $8.52 million from Jones salary into a guaranteed signing bonus. according to an NFL source with access to NFL salary information.
Jones could have rejected the pay cut and likely been released to the open market, but agent Drew Rosenhaus acknowledged that the market for older running backs is not very good and Jones was better off staying with the Packers.
As a result of the move, the Packers shaved about $12 million off their cap and are now about $8 million over.
The Packers added voidable years to the contract when it was restructured for cap purposes in 2022, so they were able to spread the new converted signing bonus over five years, thus lowering the $8.52 million signing bonus cap to $1.7 million in 2023.
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Jones’ cash pay this year is a base salary of $1.58 million, the signing bonus of $8.52 million, a per-game roster bonus of a maximum of $400,000, and a training bonus of $500,000.
ESPN and NFL Network were the first to report the pay cut.
The Packers were about $20 million over the salary cap to start the off-season, and so regardless of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ status, they would have had to restructure multiple contracts to fit the spending cap.
Jones produced his third 1,000-yard rushing season in the last four years, totaling 1,121 yards and two touchdowns on 213 carries. Additionally, he caught 59 passes for 395 yards and five touchdowns.
His 1,516 yards from scrimmage ranked ninth in the NFL and his 5.3 yard average ranked first among running backs with at least 150 carries.
Jones’ only downside of the season was his five fumbles, including a crucial loss in a season-ending loss to the Detroit Lions.
Jones signed a four-year, $48 million contract on March 14, 2021. He paid him a $13 million signing bonus and featured a base salary of $11.1 million for the upcoming season, which has not changed as result of the restructuring.
If the Packers cut Jones after the 2023 season, he will count $12 million against the cap.
