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The Packers had an unexpectedly great season in the first year after Aaron Rodgers. Another Aaron sees a very bright future for the team.
“I feel like what we’re building here is special,” running back Aaron Jones told Packers.com, via NFL.com. “You can feel it. You can see it. The chemistry, the bond, the standard that we’ve set. I feel like with the standard we’ve set, we know what our expectations are when we come back next year. Our standard is high. We have no reason not to reach that standard every day because we’ve shown that we can do it this year, and we’ve shown we can do it game after game after game, we can put it together. I feel like we’re gonna be dangerous. We’re gonna be special.”
He’s absolutely right, especially with the development of quarterback Jordan Love and an excellent young group of pass catches.
“This is a special team, [as] special [a] group of guys that I’ve been around,” Jones said. “We defied expectations. Nobody thought we would even be in the playoffs, let alone the second round of the playoffs. I feel like it was a great building block for us.”
He’s right. But there’s a hitch. Jones enters the last year of his contract, with a non-guaranteed base salary of $11.1 million. Remember the conversation last summer about running back salaries? Jones will be one of the veterans at risk of being supplanted by someone younger and cheaper and dollar-for-dollar more valuable to the team.
Still, the 29-year-old Jones thinks he’s got plenty of gas in the tank, even though he rushed for 656 yards in 11 regular-season games in 2023.
“I guess I’m aging like wine,” Jones said. “I’m only getting better with time. I feel like I’m just stepping into my prime.”
That’s fine, but we know that’s not how the running back market works. Advanced age, bloated salary, and declining production can turn even the best bottle of vino into vinegar.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/aaron-jones-sees-special-future-194855551.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-01-27 19:48:55
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