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Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer
For the first time since 2017, the Green Bay Packers will have a new No. 1 running back.
Free agent Josh Jacobs has reached a deal with the Packers, who in turn have informed Aaron Jones that he’s being released, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday.
Jacobs, 26, responded to being slapped with a $10.091 million franchise tag last season by not signing it and skipping the entirety of the Las Vegas Raiders‘ offseason program, training camp and the preseason. He agreed to a restructured $11.791 million one-year deal and had the worst season of his five-year career — finishing with career lows in games played (13), rushing yards (805), yards per carry (3.5), rushing touchdowns (6), rushing first downs (34) and yards from scrimmage (1,101).
Jones, meanwhile, had averaged 5.0 yards per carry over 97 games with the Packers since being draft by Green Bay in 2017. In his seven seasons, Jones, 29, had rushed for 5,940 yards and scored 63 total touchdown (45 rushing, 18 receiving). He also caught 272 passes for 2,076 yards.
A little more than a month ago, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said Jones “absolutely” would be back in Green Bay.
That was likely before he ever knew that he could land Jacobs.
It’s always possible Jones could return to the Packers if the market for a 29-year-old running back isn’t to his liking.
A year ago, Jones took a $5 million pay cut to return to the Packers for a total compensation of $11 million in 2023, including an $8.52 million signing bonus.
Jones was scheduled to make up to $12 million this season including salary ($11.1 million) and bonuses ($500,000 for offseason workouts and up to $400,000 for games active).
While Jones last season had his least productive regular season (142 carries, 656 yards, two touchdowns) since his rookie year, he rushed for more than half of that in the final three regular-season games. In the two playoff games alone, Jones rushed for a combined 226 yards with three touchdowns on 39 carries (a 5.8 yards average).
“He certainly had an impact on the game and an impact on our offense, an impact on our team with our late-season push,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the season. “I don’t know if we do all that without him. That’s all part of the process.
Jones is the only player in NFL history with 5,000-plus rushing yards (5,940), 45-plus rushing touchdowns (45), an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.04), 250-plus catches (272), 2,000-plus receiving yards (2,076) and 15-plus touchdown catches (18) in his first seven seasons in the league.
“He was such a difference-maker when he was out there this year,” Gutekunst said earlier in the offseason. “The way our offense was able to move. The way he, he changed a lot of the way we operated when he was in there and when he was healthy. I think for us, it’s finding a way to keep him out there and keep him healthy. Not only on the field but, and you guys know this, you guys have been around here, he’s such an influential leader in our locker room. He’s just really the heartbeat of our team. That’s certainly the anticipation, that he’ll be back.”
Now, it’s the younger Jacobs, 26, who becomes the focal point of the Packers’ running game, which also could lose backup AJ Dillon in free agency.
The 5-foot-10, 223-pound Jacobs missed the Raiders’ final four games with a quad injury. The -2 yards he had on nine carries at Buffalo in Week 2 represented the first time a reigning rushing champ had negative rushing yards in a game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
This came after he was first-team All-Pro in 2022, when he led the NFL in rushing (1,653 yards) and yards from scrimmage (2,053).
A two-time Pro Bowl selection and only the third Raiders player to lead the league in rushing, along with Marcus Allen (1985) and Clem Daniels (AFL in 1963), Jacobs has rushed for 5,545 yards in his career, second-most in the NFL since 2019, behind Derrick Henry‘s 7,209 rushing yards, averaging 4.2 yards per carry.
Jacobs’ 46 career rushing TDs are the second-most in the NFL since 2019, behind Henry’s 68 rushing scores. Jacobs’ 6,993 scrimmage yards are the fourth-most in the NFL since 2019, trailing Henry (8,295), Christian McCaffrey (7,454) and Tyreek Hill (7,173).
While Jacobs has 197 career receptions, he has yet to catch a TD pass.
ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.