The Minnesota Vikings may have to spend big to retain running back Aaron Jones, or risk seeing him leave and join a major rival. Aaron Jones has been linked to the Vikings’ heated rival

The Minnesota Vikings have a value judgement to make on running back Aaron Jones in the coming months.

Jones is a dual-threat playmaker who excelled on the ground and through the air for Minnesota last season on the team’s way to a 14-3 record. However, he was playing on just a one-year deal worth $7 million and is now on the wrong side of 30 years old.

This offseason is probably Jones’ best chance at one more significant multiyear payday given the current market for backs around the NFL, so testing the free agent waters makes complete sense for him. The Vikings will have to decide at what price point it makes sense to compete for Jones’s services, and at what figure they must look toward a different solution.

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report on Monday, January 27, projected a three-year contract for Jones at a value of $21 million total. That is the type of contract Minnesota would likely front load to make moving on from Jones in 2026 easier and render such a move more or less a financial afterthought in 2027, when Jones will be 33 and playing his 11th professional campaign.

However, the Chicago Bears have the money to pay Jones in similar fashion should they so choose.

“New Bears head coach Ben Johnson knows exactly what Jones can offer after repeatedly facing him as the Detroit Lions‘ offensive coordinator,” Knox wrote. “Johnson could also be interested in pairing D’Andre Swift with a back like Jones to form a talented duo like the one he had with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in Detroit.”


Aaron Jones Showed Out in Initial Year With Vikings

Aaron Jones, Denver Broncos

GettyRunning back Aaron Jones of the Minnesota Vikings.

Knox’s projection is vastly larger than of Spotrac for Jones’s next deal.

The website’s calculations place his value at $5.6 million on just a one-year contract, though his performance in 2024 argues against the running back accepting that kind of agreement without a thorough examination of the market first.

Jones finished the 2024 campaign with 1,138 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns as well as 51 receptions for 408 yards and 2 scores. He did battle injury to some degree, which has been an ongoing concern over the past several years, though Jones appeared in all 17 regular season games and in the playoffs during his first campaign in Minnesota.

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