Source: Josh Jacobs to join the Packers, Aaron Jones to be released

The Green Bay Packers will have a new top running back for the first time since 2017.
The Packers have agreed to a four-year, $48 million contract with free agent Josh Jacobs, and they have informed Aaron Jones that he will be released, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday.

Jacobs’ contract also includes a guaranteed $12.5 million, a source said Schefter.
After receiving a $10.091 million franchise tag the previous season, Jacobs, 26, chose not to sign it and missed the entire preseason, training camp, and offseason activities for the Las Vegas Raiders. After accepting a restructured one-year contract worth $11.791 million, he went on to have the worst season of his five-year career, concluding with career lows in yards per carry (3.5), rushing touchdowns (6), rushing first downs (34) and yards from scrimmage (1,101).
In contrast, Jones has played in 97 games and averaged 5.0 yards per rush since being selected by Green Bay in the 2017 draft. The 29-year-old Jones had rushed for 5,940 yards and scored 63 touchdowns overall in his seven seasons (18 receiving, 45 rushing). In addition, he has 2,076 yards and 272 receptions.
General manager of the Packers Brian Gutekunst stated a little over a month ago that Jones “absolutely” would return to Green Bay.
That was probably before he had the slightest idea he could get Jacobs.
If Jones isn’t satisfied with the market for a 29-year-old running back, he may decide to rejoin the Packers. He agreed to return to Green Bay for a total compensation package of $11 million in 2023, which included a $8.52 million signing bonus, a year ago, after taking a $5 million pay cut.
This season, he was expected to earn a maximum of $12 million, which included a $11.1 million salary, bonuses ($500,000 for offseason training and an additional $400,000 for games played).
Despite having his least productive regular season since his rookie year (142 carries, 656 yards, and 2 touchdowns), Jones scored more than half of his total in the final three games. Jones ran for a total of 226 yards and three touchdowns on 39 runs (an average of 5.8 yards) in the team’s two postseason games.
Following the season, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said, “He certainly had an impact on the game and our offense, an impact on our team with our late-season push.” “I’m not sure how we would manage without him. That’s all part of the process.”
Jones is the only player in NFL history with 5,000-plus running yards (5,940), 45-plus rushing touchdowns (45), an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.04), 250-plus receptions (272), 2,000-plus receiving yards (2,076) and 15-plus touchdown catches (18) in his first seven seasons.
“He was such a difference-maker when he was out there this year,” Gutekunst said earlier in the offseason. “The way our offensive was able to flow. The way he altered a lot of the way we functioned when he was in there and when he was well. I believe for us, it’s finding a way to keep him out there and keep him healthy. Not just on the field but, and you guys know this, you guys have been around here, he’s such an impactful leader in our locker room. He’s simply truly the lifeblood of our squad. That’s obviously the expectation, that he’ll be back.”
Now, it’s the younger Jacobs, 26, who becomes the main focus of the running game, which also might lose backup AJ Dillon in free agency.
The 5-foot-10, 223-pound Jacobs missed the Raiders’ last four games with a quad injury. The minus-2 yards he had on nine attempts versus Buffalo in Week 2 marks the first time a reigning rushing champ had negative rushing yards in a game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
This happened after he was first-team All-Pro in 2022, when he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,053 yards) as well as running (1,653).
Only Marcus Allen (1985) and Clem Daniels (AFL, 1963) were Raiders players to lead the league in rushing more than twice, as Jacobs did twice. With 5,545 yards of rushing yards during his career (4.2 yards per carry), Jacobs is second only to Derrick Henry (7,209 yards) in the NFL since 2019.
After Henry with 68 running touchdowns, Jacobs’ 46 career touchdowns are the second highest in the NFL since 2019. With 6,993 scrimmage yards, Jacobs is fourth all-time after Tyreek Hill (7,173), Christian McCaffrey (7,454), and Henry (8,295).
Despite having 197 career catches, Jacobs has not yet received a touchdown pass.

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