The Rise of the Veteran Running Back: How Aaron Jones is Changing the Game for the Minnesota Vikings

In each of the last two offseasons, the Minnesota Vikings have cut ties with their incumbent starting running back. Last year, they released Dalvin Cook, then signed Alexander Mattison to a new two-year deal to replace him. Fast forward to this year, and the Vikings released Mattison, too.

In his place, the Vikings signed longtime Packers star Aaron Jones to a one-year, $7 million deal. It seemed a bit surprising, given that the Vikings had just parted ways with back-to-back starters because it didn’t seem like they were worth the money. But Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah thinks that perhaps the veteran running back market is an inefficient one at the moment, given how the players have been seemingly devalued by the league.

“We get the conversation about running backs and age and different things like that,” Adofo-Mensah said, according to the Pioneer Press. “Maybe that dynamic has gone a little too far to the other side, and teams are realizing that there are still really good players at their value. It’s a position where we can really upgrade performance pretty efficiently. We’re excited to have him.”

Aaron Jones

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Jones was still playing at an extremely high level by the end of last season, which makes him different than each of Cook and Mattison at the time the Vikes decided to move on from them.

Jones ended 2023 by rushing for over 100 yards in a Packers-record five consecutive games, including the team’s two playoff contests against the Cowboys and 49ers. He also averaged at least 4.6 yards per carry and 5.2 yards per touch for the seventh consecutive season. Mattison has been under 4.0 yards per carry in three straight seasons, and was one of the NFL’s least-efficient backs last season, while Jones’ success rate on runs last year in Green Bay (62%, per Pro-Football-Reference) dwarfed Cook’s mark in his final season with Minnesota (47%).

In other words, the Vikings were willing to pay Jones because he still looks like a quality contributor, even at a position that the whole league has seemingly moved away from paying. They weren’t willing to do the same with their previous backs, because the same thing could not be said about their performance level.

2024-03-22 13:59:57
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