Packers fans apparently weren’t the only ones surprised to see Aaron Jones shown the door this offseason.
Speaking to reporters at this year’s annual NFL Meetings, head coach Matt LaFleur admitted he was pretty shocked that the veteran running back wouldn’t be returning to the team in 2024.
“It kind of caught me off guard, to be honest with you,” LaFleur said, via the Wisconsin State Journal. “There were some other things in play, obviously with Aaron Jones, and I didn’t quite know how everything was going to go. It just happened really fast on that Monday.”
Back in February GM Brian Gutekunst stated that he “absolutely” expected Jones to remain with the team despite attempts to restructure his contract. But once that fell through, Green Bay turned its attention to Raiders RB Josh Jacobs.
“We asked him to take a pay cut, and as we went through that process, we kind of realized it wasn’t going to probably come to fruition,” Gutekunst explained. “Obviously, we had to do what’s in the best interest of the football team — and that’s what we did.”
The Packers signed Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million contract and although LaFleur says he wasn’t involved in the decision-making he couldn’t be happier to have the two-time Pro Bowler in the team’s backfield.
“It happened really fast, so I don’t know all the details of that. I’m not involved in those types of conversations,” the coach shared. “But we were super excited [to get Jacobs].”
Jones will face his former team two times next year after inking a one-year, $7 million deal with the division rival Vikings.