Tea and Biscuits for ya, Mark.

Time will tell, If not maybe its time to make changes in the MGT staff. Hope for the best... GO PACK GO

Good article! "There is a risk that he does not bounce back this season, but in that case, Green Bay can get out of the contract pretty painlessly next year."

I'd add there is a risk that Aaron Jones has more injuries and declines in production. I think the upside is greater with Jacobs because he's 3.5 years younger and will be under contract for up to 4 years if the Packers so choose to do so. You also should add that Jacobs injured his Quad and was out for 4 games. He most likely would've eclipsed 1000 rushing yards and 350 receiving. I think that is more of his floor and his ceiling is 2022, which lead the league in rushing and all purpose yards.

When looking at his game-by-game stats, I did notice that in his last 5 games he had a 98 and two 100+ rushing games so your thoughts about coming in out of shape, etc...has some validity. I also agree that LA's offense was disfunctional and they had a coaching change mid season. By the way, those 4 good rushing games came with the new coach. You take that and Mlf offense play calling and I think the risk is mitigated to a very low level. And the upside is great.

IMO, another great job by Gutey and the contract Ball negotiated is very much Packer friendly.

I completely agree that Gute has earned the benefit of the doubt when evaluating players. That doesn't make losing Aaron Jones any easier to take. Jones is a terrific player and a better person.

I suspect Jones felt underappreciated last year when the team asked him to take a $5 million pay cut and as a result he hired Rosenhaus as his agent. Rosenhaus is well known in the industry to be an aggressive representative of his players and wants max contracts for his guys. However he can't do that without the consent of his client. I think Jones was unwilling to give the Packers much more and preferred to move on versus taking another significant cut. So be it. Jones is now a Viking and the Packers have a new running back.

Gute did okay in a tough market where older running backs are just being devalued. Hard choices are what he is paid to make.

Edit: Packers reportedly resigning Nixon and Ballentine. Secondary looking much better.

Wow, a really different tone here than a year ago, when all we could talk about was the incompetency of our front office and coaches.

So how long do you think this swap of Jacobs and Jones has been under consideration? At some point, somebody realized that Jacobs would be an available FA who would be younger and cheaper than Jones, who might be approaching the end of the line. They started investigating further. They watched Jacobs' film, they talked with the medical people about Jones..... This is why they make the big bucks.

What 'shock wave?"

Younger, stronger, healthier running back who is almost yearly an All-Pro.

Aging back with ability but hurt more than he should be.

The only shock was Jones signing with the Vikings. They paid $7 million. We'll see how that works out for them.
As of today, Sam Darnold is their starter at QB.

I think the writing has been on the wall for a week because of no positive news coming out on AJ. And I have read articles on other sites claiming the Packers insulted Jones with their offer. No, they didn't. That was a fair offer for an aging RB that missed a lot of games last year. Players rarely get better as they get older.

It's a harsh reality in pro sports, especially the NFL, that older players get replaced by younger players. A lot of the time they are cheaper too. That's the beauty of the salary cap, teams can't keep the more pricey players even if they are still good. The NFL cap works, maybe MLB should copy it.

It would be great to see Bakh and Jones when they retire to sign 1-day contracts to retire as Packers and be honored for their time.

Excited about Jacob's possibilities.

After the great get with Xavier...a good start.

Jones signed for less in Minnesota than he would have gotten with a 50% cut in Green Bay. He wanted out, so be it.

I was a big fan of Josh Jacobs the year he came out. He's kind of a cross between Jones and Dillon; he has an elusive burst but is also a strong finisher. He's my favorite kind of RB: one that always gets a couple more yards than were blocked.

He also has made some fantastic, acrobatic receptions--much like Aaron Jones.

Talk all you want about this deal, is done, move on and see what Jacobs does for the Pack.

It seems reasonable to hope that Josh Jacobs will be one of the top three running backs in the NFL next season. We got him on the cheap, perhaps, due to him being with a dysfunctional franchise that mismanaged him.
Having just turned 26, Jacobs is about three years younger than Aaron Jones, who will be 30 in December. It appears Jacobs is still in his prime, while Jones is likely on the downside of his career.
Jones is someone to celebrate in Packers history, and to be genuinely sad about saying goodbye to -- but letting him go after several years is not an act of disloyalty. It's been a good long run for Jones with the Packers, beneficial to all involved, including him and the fans -- but after several years it was a good time to move on.
***
Generally speaking, I like giving second contracts to players in their mid-20s on the upside of their careers rather than third contracts to players at about 30 and usually on the downside.
I'll truly miss Jones and Bakh, and it's actually sad for me to see just about any of our players go (I'm still rooting for MVS, for example).
I'm passionate about maintaining good continuity with our players; but, sad to say, all of the good things in this life eventually come to an end, which in pro football generally comes all-too-quickly at about age 30 for most positions.
The key, as seems the case with Jones and Bakh, is to make it a good end. All of the best to them.
***
As a postscript, it's also important perspective that we have to take care of all of the players on the roster, and so can't overpay some to the detriment of others.
In that spirit, I hope Jordan Love doesn't try to break the bank with his next contract.
It'd be hard to pay him less than Kirk Cousins after his signing with the Falcons for about $45 million per year.
About $46-$50 million per year seems about right for Love. He'd still be getting his respect, but he'd also be sending a message to his teammates that he wants them to get paid, too, and to everyone that he wants there to be enough salary cap to go around for enough talent to win a Super Bowl.
Love could still be fabulously wealthy while also gaining richly in good will.

Don’t agree or understand your AJ Dillon comparison. You watching him take it to the house runs? He’s got breakaway speed too because they don’t catch him. Hopefully he doesn’t pull his hamstring cruising into the end zone first game of the year and miss lots of games.

Assuming the report that Jones is signing with the Vikings is correct, the 2 games against Minnesota just got even more interesting. Think about the array of emotions that people will be having. Everyone understands that the NFL is a business that involves some very tough decisions. But there are times when it's hard for it not to become personal.

Ok - It's All in again.
The rebuild is over.
Expect a Super- Bowl
Or MLF gone.

"As is the signing of Jacobs, who will likely serve more as an A.J. Dillon replacement than a Jones replacement"
In what universe is a RB who lead the league in Rushing serving as a replacement for freaking A.J.D? Just stop it. He is replacing A.J. period. Because his running style isn't like Jones, he is somehow only good enough to replace Dillon? We couldn't sign our RB1 so we went out and replaced him with a RB1 and a damn good one at that. If he is replacing Dillon, well hell, did he ever get paid well to replace a second string back who struggled to average 3-4 yards a carry. Dillon should be jumping for joy that Jacobs just set the market at 7-10 million a year for his backup RB status. It sucks losing Jones. But we did not replace Dillon with Jacobs, that is absolutely ridiculous to compare the two. We signed a high quality RB1 yesterday. End of story.

Aaron Jones' production and leadership will be missed.

I look forward to learning more about Josh Jacobs. Seems like an outstanding football player and teammate.

He's been available as a player. Has not missed many games and even better, when he plays, he makes plays. His over 5,500 NFL rushing yards goes with his knack to find the end zone. Lots of TDs! And just under 20% of his total yards come from receiving plays.

Don't know about his blocking. Hopefully he can do that well.

JJ was also productive his sophomore season at Alabama...playing most of the year on a broken ankle.

Xavier McKinney and Josh Jackson? A good start!

There must be more to the story. Just the fact that AJ signed for 7 million less than 24hours from his release?
How did he and Rosenhaus know that quickly there was no market for him?

Let's just take a deep breath for a minute.
The Packers ( Gutey ) traded Adams to LV, traded Rodgers to NYJ, released Bahk, and AJ. And the Packers just finished last season just one game shy of a trip to the NFC championship game and now enter this season and for the foreseeable future as a legit title contender.
No Packer fan would have seen this coming given all the talent that has left 1265.
The fact that Gutey was absolutely trounced by the media, fans and by Mr. Rodgers himself that fateful day when J Love was drafted .....
Well, all those doubters are eating crow.
Gutey has been very solid in his personnel decisions and yesterday's moves are just more proof that he has earned the respect of many.
Losing AJ will be tough because he is a class act and when he comes to Lambeau the fans will give him the love and admiration he deserves. But leave no doubt .... the Vikings still suck ,!!!
So hyped for the draft and how Jacobs fits in the upcoming season and the anticipation of watching the
" baby Packers" grow together !!!
GPG !!!

Sometimes, there isn't any more patches left to repair the jeans. We got two used pair of jeans with less holes.

Now, put them jeans on one leg at a time and open a can of SNOT bubbles on the opposition.

Gute to be a Packer fan!,

Master P

I can understand not wanting to commit to multiyear deal with a 29/30 year old RB. Maybe he earns it the first year but year 2+ really increases risk. The Jacobs deal is more about guaranteeing a certain level of competency instead of rolling the dice in the draft or on a young guy.

The evaluation of releasing Jones should also include signing top FA safety for improving defense. While I am sad to see Jones go, I am fine with the logic behind the move. It makes sense long-term for sure, and possibly short-term depending how much of difference maker the FA safety is.

let's be honest. This was a steal for the Vikings who picked up one of most electrifying players in the game today. And, for only 7 million on a one year deal. Granted, Jacobs is a few years younger then Jones but currently Aaron Jones is simply much better. Today the Vikings offense improved and the Packers RB room has been weakened. I was ecstatic about the signing of Jacobs to team with Jones until I learned we were losing Jones. Seriously, we couldn't match the 7 million for arguably our best player? This maybe Gute's biggest blunder of all time. Nuff said.

at the price the Vikes paid Jones, hell we could have had Jacobs and Jones in the backfield. I suspect Jones was willing to take a relatively lowball Viking offer to be able to carry them to two victories over us even with Sam Darnold at qb.

With our player gains and our losses, all this turnover will no doubt reap some 2025 compensatory picks. Runyan & Jones count for two, but then the McKinney and Jacobs signings cancel them out. It's a long way to go before that's figured out, but it's an interesting topic this early into the '24 season. Let's just get some top dogs and ballers and let the comp picks figure themselves out for another day.

Guys. Please forgive me for posting again. But I just can't help myself with this news reported by PFT.
PFT reports that Aaron Rodgers is at the " top of the list" to be Robert F Kennedy's running mate. Ya just make this stuff up!
Wasn't it A Rod that said at the Jets season ending press conference that there's too much BS going on that has nothing to do with football!
And there's no way....no way this was reported without Rodgers knowing about it.
J - E - T - S Jets, jets jets !!!!
It's all about ANYTHING
BUT football!!

Bears just signed Jonathon Owens

Nice article Mark, but I disagree on a point or two. Not just with you, but with some of the reasoning I've read on other articles as well. For starters;

"There was more excitement around the Jacobs signing when Packers fans believed (for about an hour) that he would be paired with Jones, but the latter’s release does not change the fact that Jacobs is a hugely talented back". At the moment you might say 'He WAS a hugely talented back', in 2023 he sucked in comparison to his earlier years.

At this point he has 1305 career carries, 128 more carries than Jones, and 395 less yards than Jones. The Raiders beat the piss out of this guy due to their incompetence and poor QB play, have a look at Davonte's stats!
Another article stated that Gutey and the boys see Jacobs as as another Eddie Lacy in his prime, what? Eddie Lacy in his prime, what's that? Lacy totaled about 850 carries in his career and his "Prime" lasted about as long as the tons of Prime Rib he devoured each offseason, not very long. Lets hope that's not what they were thinking, but the "easy-out" contract makes you wonder.
Of course I hope it all works out, I'm a Packer fan, and I hope it works out for Jonesy too, he deserved better!
I'll wait a little longer before I crown Gutey, he ain't on Ron Wolf's planet just yet!

Willie Gay to the Saints-1 year $3 million. How did we miss that?

Josey Jewell signed by Panthers

My favorites, Devin White and Bobby Wagner are still available

My favorite kind of RB too Packeyed.

It will be interesting to see how the running back situation shakes out. While Jacobs' potential is undeniable, his recent performance is a concern. Hopefully, a change of scenery will revitalize him.

Paul |

I was of the opinion that GB would build through the draft for one more year, and then make their big Free Agent splash in 2025.

Obviously, Gute had other ideas. He's going after it this year. It makes sense when you think about it. They clobbered a good Dallas team on the road in the playoffs, and had San Francisco on the ropes before Barry's defense collapsed again. So they're already close to contending for the Super Bowl.

So why wait?

The knock on Jacobs has been that he didn't have another great season in 2023. It may have had something to do with having a lousy quarterback instead of an at least serviceable Derek Carr. Plus, the coaching staff was terrible. Jacobs was basically all they had because Jimmy Garrapolo strikes fear into no one's defense. Even with Davante Adams as another playmaker.

Between the Jacobs signing and the McKinney signing, the Packers are ready to take on the NFC.

Looking forward, they are loaded with Draft capital, so Gute may be able to pull some more rabbits out of his hat.

"The future's so bright, you have to wear shades."

So, here's the thing. Either Jones signed a contract slightly better than the "insulting" lowball offer of the Packers, purely out of spite, or he jumped on the Vikings offer before they found someone else, because he knew this was as good as he'd get.

Aaron Jones, great player, Packer, Person. Would be tough seeing him in any other uniform. What bothered me was he pulled that hamstring on a free run to the end zone. He was running in a straight line and not even running hard at that point. You saw him grab it. Then he tells everyone he's ok, like most do, but he wasn't. I would be concerned there's more coming. Jacobs...I just don't know, but we're gonna find out

"And what initially appeared as a pricey contract turned out to be a yearly proposition for the Packers. There's a risk he may not recover this season, but in that case, Green Bay could fairly painlessly terminate the contract next year. It's possible he'll be playing poker using https://playsafecasino.ca/payments/instant-banking-casinos/ taking advantage of his friend's advice"
Jacob is doing great, keep it up! I wonder how much longer he'll maintain this level?