Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones opened up about his decision to return to the organization in the offseason. He spoke with KFAN1003 and detailed the process that he went through in making his choice.
Jones went through contract negotiations over the course of the off-season. He initially signed a two-year $20 million deal in 2025. However, injuries plagued his season. Because of this, the front office indicated that they could either restructure his contract or outright release him.
A contract was negotiated with new terms. The running back lowered his base salary from $9 million to $5.5 million for this upcoming season. This allowed the Vikings to have some sort of salary cap relief.
Jones made it clear that it wasn’t a matter of him wanting to return to the organization, but rather the money.
It was a little dicey, just taking a pay cut. I just wanted to make sure I got my value. At first I didn’t know what was going on with changing the GM and all of that happening in that process. I was told that I could be on the way out. I just kind of echoed to my agent, ‘Hey this is where I want to be at.’ It wasn’t a matter if they wanted me or not. It was trying to make the money work with the cap space we had, we still had to pay some guys. Being in the game, I understand how the business works. Yeah, I’m willing to take a pay cut to stay here. So just had to make sure that the value was right, though.
Vikings Running Back Struggled Last Season
It was evident why the Vikings and Jones’ camp wanted to make sure a fair deal got done for both sides. Jones recorded 132 carries for 548 yards and two touchdowns in 2026. He averaged 4.15 yards per carry and had a season-long rush of 31 yards. He would end up sharing backfield duties with Jordan Mason, and the duo formed a productive tandem despite the injury struggles.
Advanced metrics were not friendly to Jones as well. The injuries caught up with him in several ways. He ranked 50th out of 55 qualified NFL running backs with a 65 Pro Football Focus grade. His overall rushing grade was 69.5. This was certainly uncommon for Jones, who had been a reliable running back throughout the course of his career.
Jones also averaged 2.7 yards after contact per attempt. And had just 12 missed tackles all season. He finished last among qualified running backs in forced missed tackle rate according to ESPN analytics. Some of this could have been due to his down metrics as far as volume is concerned. He averaged 11 carries and 3.4 targets per game.
2024 Season Was More Telling For Vikings Star
This season could be a perfect situation for Jones. He has the opportunity to bounce back and become one of the top running backs in the NFC. The 2024 campaign was a little bit better of a measuring stick for Jones. He recorded 255 carries for 1,138 yards and averaged 4.46 yards per carry. The playmaker also had five rushing touchdowns as well.
He had several highlights in the 2024 season as well. He had two 100-yard games. The first game came against the Houston Texans, and in that contest, he had 19 carries for 102 yards. He also had 22 carries for 106 yards against the Chicago Bears in Week 12 that year, becoming one of the key players in a rivalry game. That explosiveness was on full display in those games and in those contests.
It’s fair to say that the injury bogged him down. It’s also fair to say that he has become a veteran leader for the Vikings. This is certainly good news, especially as he believes he has a lot more left in the tank. When healthy, he is undoubtedly a stabilizing force in the running back room. The Vikings are certainly hoping they get the best out of him this year.
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