Once again, the Green Bay Packers’ offseason has been exciting. Naturally, nobody can claim that this year’s offseason has been quite as dramatic as the previous several. The Packers selected Jordan Love in the 2020 offseason, and they came under intense criticism for it. Aaron Rodgers held his own in 2021 following his third NFL MVP victory. Despite ongoing tensions between Rodgers and the team, Green Bay gave him a three-year, $150 million contract extension in 2022.
Since Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets in favor of Love last year, it could have been the most dramatic of them all. Following that transaction, Rodgers persisted in his criticism and accusations of impropriety directed at the Packers front staff, which only served to amplify the criticism from the outside.
Luckily for Green Bay, Love turned out to be an excellent quarterback, making Brian Gutekunst appear prescient. Unfortunately, more difficult choices still had to be taken as a result of that achievement.
The Packers’ regrettable choice to release running back Aaron Jones this offseason was among the more notable ones. The action was taken soon after Green Bay declared that they and 2022 NFL rushing leader Josh Jacobs had come to terms on a four-year, $48 million contract.
A few days later, Jones, one of the most adored Packers players in recent memory, signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He was the third-best rusher in Green Bay history at the end of his career, behind only Ahman Green and Jim Taylor.
The Packers fan base was obviously sad to see Jones go. In addition to being a fantastic athlete, he was a pillar of the community and an excellent teammate.
Fans have known for weeks that Jones was offered to accept a pay decrease, but he turned it down. Still, Gutekunst only recently offered his version of events.
Gutekunst made an appearance on a Cheesehead TV edition of “Packers Transplants” on Wednesday night. When questioned about the decision to waive Jones during the interview, he stated that it was not something he had planned to do:
First of all, not much occurred. Drew Rosenhaus, Aaron’s agent, and Aaron himself are undoubtedly the best. We get along nicely with both of those guys. That’s what I expected at the moment. It was sort of the plan, as I mentioned before, and I fully anticipated Aaron to return with us.
We were aware that there would be challenges, and as we overcame them, I found it to be harder than I had anticipated. Once more, that’s the one topic we bring up frequently: the NFL landscape is dynamic and ever-changing, and we must adjust accordingly. And that is what took place. The situation shifted, and we were unable to reach the understanding we had hoped to have with Aaron.
Following the Packers’ NFL Playoffs loss to the San Francisco 49ers, fans may recall that Gutekunst was questioned about whether or not he thought Jones would return. He had stated at the time that he “absolutely” expected that to occur.
It’s clear from his remarks on “Packers Transplants” that he was being honest at the time. But he believed Jones would accept a 50% wage reduction. Naturally, Jones did not want to take that step, especially considering that he had agreed to a separate wage cut in order to return in 2023.
Although nobody like taking a pay reduction, occasionally people will do it if it means the team will succeed. For the running back, though, asking Jones to take a pay cut for two consecutive years was too much.
which makes sense from his perspective.
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