A Deeper Look at the New Packers Contract for Aaron Jones
When details first emerged that Aaron Jones would get a new four-year contract to stay with the Packers, I was more than surprised. Green Bay has never historically done that to their free agent running backs, so the fact that they would spent nearly $50 million for Showtyme made me wonder what was going on. Once we found out the particulars of the deal earlier today, it made much more sense.
There are some parts to this contract that I needed to familiarize myself with because I did not understand what some of the terminology meant. Let's first start with the easy stuff:
- The $13 million signing bonus is guaranteed, but it can be spread out over four years to help with the salary cap. If Jones gets cut by the Packers prior to the end of the deal, Green Bay will need to pay him the remaining signing bonus.
- The low base salary means that the first two years will be extremely team friendly. Jones would make nearly $20 million in base salary over the final two years of the contract if the Packers decide to keep him.
- The roster bonus simply means that if Jones makes the roster, he will be owed that money. Assuming he makes the Packers in 2022, he would earn an extra $3.75 million for the roster bonus.
The rest of the contract has three components that I needed to get some clarification.
- Per game bonus means that he will be paid 1/16 of that amount for each game that he is active on the roster. The amount is small ($1,375,000 over all four years), but still every dollar counts.
- Likewise, the workout bonus means that as long as Jones attends the team's agreed upon offseason workouts, he would receive the bonus. It is also a small amount compared to everything else.
Everybody assumes that the Packers will be on the hook for only two years with Jones. However, if that is the case, as long as he continues to produce, you can bet that he will get another good payday in 2023.