Aaron Jones will continue his Vikings stay. The veteran running back has agreed to a two-year, $20MM deal, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The move is now official, per a team announcement. 
The pact includes $13MM in guarantees, nearly double what Jones took last offseason on his one-year Minnesota pact. The longtime Packers starter was a cap casualty in advance of the team’s decision to make a long-term commitment to Josh Jacobs. That resulted in Jones making the intra-divisional move, one which proved to be fruitful.
The 30-year-old handled a career-high 255 carries during his debut Vikings season; Jones also set a new personal mark with 1,138 rushing yards. Topping 1,500 scrimmage yards for the third time in his career, the veteran demonstrated he can still be effective in leading a backfield. He will be counted on to do so again with this new agreement in place.
Jones said in January he aims to finish his career in Minnesota, and today’s news is a step in that direction. A mutual interest existed from the team to work out a new agreement, with Jones’ void date being pushed back to March 11. That decision gave the parties additional time to hammer out a contract without any dead money charges from the 2024 one coming into play.
After Jones racked up 306 touches in the regular season, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said the team would look to reduce his workload in the event a new deal were to be worked out. As a result, Minnesota could be in play for a modest free agent investment in the backfield or the addition of a rookie sometime in April’s draft. The Vikings only have four picks as things stand, though, so other positions could be seen as a higher priority.
Minnesota will have Jones on the books as well as Ty Chandler in the backfield. Cam Akers is a pending free agent, and if he were to depart the team would need to add depth over the course of the offseason. Regardless of what plays out on that front, Jones will be in line to remain the Vikings’ lead back.
Good move. Especially with a new starter next year (as it looks now), having stability in the offense and a back who can pass protect and catch is a great advantage. It’s much easier for a quarterback to get acclimated with a reliable teammate back there. That’s not even considering Jones’ actual rush production. Good signing.
Not bad
Tom Grossi about to be screaming
He will never be as healthy as he was in 2024.
Never day never as you clearly do not know.
Otay Panky.
Why would you choose to wear that ugly purple uniform any longer than you had to?