Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) fingers the ball working again Aaron Jones (33) in the course of the first half at Ford Area in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Pictures.
It flew beneath the radar final week per Minnesota Vikings-themed headlines, however the group’s RB1 plan could already be identified.
The Quiet — However Large — Vikings Offseason Growth
Aaron Jones is tentatively on faucet to check free company in three weeks, however due to reporting from ESPN’s Area Yates, a touch emerged on Saturday. Minnesota needs to discover retaining Jones, extending the deadline to resolve.
Yates tweeted, “The Vikings and RB Aaron Jones agreed to move the void date on his contract from this Monday until the final day before free agency. If Jones had not been extended by Monday, the team would have taken on $3.2M in dead money in 2025. This expands the window for Jones and Minnesota to continue to negotiate a new deal that would avoid that amount hitting the cap in full for 2025.”
An analogous maneuver was utilized in 2023 with defensive deal with Dalvin Tomlinson, though he finally departed the franchise and joined the Cleveland Browns.
“It doesn’t guarantee a new deal will be reached, but it buys time for both sides if there is interest in hammering one out before free agency,” Yates added.
If the Vikings didn’t need Jones again, the void deadline wouldn’t have been touched, and he’d be on monitor to check the open market. The void extension proves that Minnesota a minimum of needs to have a dialogue with Jones.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Pictures.
Yates’ coworker, Kevin Seifert, who writes concerning the Vikings for ESPN, added context: “Kevin O’Connell said last week that he hopes to get Aaron Jones back in 2025. Could be in more of a committee-style role after Jones set a career high in carries in 2024.”
In January, Jones spoke candidly about eager to return with the Vikings subsequent season. “This is an excellent place. This is where I hope to finish my career,” Jones advised the Pioneer Press final month.
Matt Krohn-Imagn Pictures
Pioneer Press’ Dane Mizutani additionally requested Jones if he was happy with taking part in each Vikings recreation this season. Jones famous, “Oh, definitely. I missed a handful of games and played through injuries as well, and with that, I guess the narrative got out that I was injury prone. It’ ’s been nice to slash that narrative and throw it out the window. The guys know whatever I go through throughout the week I’m going to be ready.”
Jones banked over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in 2024, a improbable stat line for a 30-year-old tailback. The previous Inexperienced Bay Packer had one of many busiest seasons of his profession per workload and performed all 17 video games regardless of an “injury-prone” label over the previous couple of years. Jones’ was at his 2024 peak within the first 5 or so video games of the season, slowing down a bit down the stretch, however he didn’t miss any time on a group that desperately wanted to restore its floor recreation.
Due to this fact, these components relating to Jones’ future in Minnesota exist:
He acknowledged that he needs to return in 2025.
The Vikings prolonged the void cash deadline.
Two convincing hints that Jones might be again.
Brad Rempel-Imagn Pictures.
It’s value noting that this doesn’t rule out Minnesota choosing a rookie working again in April. The upcoming draft is extremely deep at RB. So, the Vikings can do each — signal Jones and draft a rookie.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the College of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his every day YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The present options friends, evaluation, and opinion on all issues associated to the purple group, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates again to 1996. Listed responsible pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doorways (the band). He follows the NBA as intently because the NFL.
All statistics supplied by Professional Soccer Reference / Stathead; all contractual info supplied by OverTheCap.com.
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