It took all the way up to the legal tampering portion of free agency, but the Minnesota Vikings and Aaron Jones finally decided that things were too perfect in 2024 to mess around. Jones enjoyed a career-high 1,138 yards last season, while the Vikings didn’t have a backup plan for the top free-agent tailback. So Minnesota gets their guy, Jones gets a raise — everybody’s happy.
While few wanted to see Jones leave, the signing inspires some concern for fans who fear the team will continue to kick the running back can down the road. Experts project the 2025 draft to be loaded with talented runners. Failing to sign Jones would force the Vikings to commit hard to developing a successor. Because even with Jones under contract for two seasons, running back should remain a priority in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft.
Not only that, but Jones is part of an equation that makes for perfect conditions for [ADD ROOKIE RUNNING BACK’S NAME IN APRIL] to succeed.
One major piece of the puzzle is that Jones takes a lot of pressure off a rookie running back to succeed immediately. If Minnesota had to settle for a lesser option in 2025’s weak RB class, there wouldn’t be a lot of patience for a first-year player to bide his time behind, say, the Ghost of Nick Chubb. That rookie would have to be ready to be the 1A in a timeshare, if not the bell cow, for Minnesota’s ground game to thrive.
Instead, we already know that Jones can run the show as a bell cow because he had to do it last season. Given that Jones is 30 and has a history of durability issues, that’s obviously not wise, but Jones is in place and paid to be an Option 1A at running back for the Vikings.
Another hidden benefit to Jones’ versatile game is that the Vikings can draft the most talented running back available without worrying about checking particular boxes. For example, without Jones, there might be more pressure to draft someone with a refined receiving game. But if their rookie is raw as a pass-catcher, that’s fine — that’s something Jones can take off a rookie’s plate.
Jones’ age also means that a rookie can push for more playing time without friction from a veteran starter. Jones’ career-high yards came on a career-high 255 attempts — 19 more than he’d ever had. His 306 touches were the seventh-most in the NFL, and he was the oldest player to break the 300-touch barrier. Derrick Henry was the only other player in their age-30 season to get more, and Jones and Henry were the only age-30 players to break the 150-touch barrier.
Needless to say, Jones isn’t going to be upset if some rookie comes into camp and starts taking some tough yardage away from him.
Even better, there aren’t going to be many better players to come up under than Jones. His infectious, goofy personality resonated with young players in Green Bay. Last year, he proved he was a good fit for Minnesota’s culture. But beyond the sombrero-toting, Jones is a pro. You have to play at a high level in your 30s, and Jones will show any rookie what it takes to have a long NFL career at a position notorious for breaking down early.
But it isn’t just Jones who sets up any rookie Vikings back for success. The Vikings finally, finally got serious about upgrading their interior offensive line. In fact, they imported big-ticket guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly from the Indianapolis Colts. While the main focus in landing them is to protect J.J. McCarthy against tough defensive lines, Jones and [ROOKIE X] also get to run behind those guys. And that tends to be a winning formula for running backs.
Namely, two-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Taylor, who bounced back from a couple of injury-plagued seasons to run for 1,431 yards in 14 games last season. That’s good news for Jones, but more importantly, it’s also tough to imagine a better situation for any rookie to step into.
So, does Jones’ contract make it less likely for the Vikings to draft a rookie? Theoretically, yes. Still, it feels like the team will (and should) find their succession plan for the position in 2025. Minnesota’s only other back under contract is Ty Chandler, and they aren’t counting on him to take a step forward. So their option is to bring back a low-upside backup in Cam Akers or try to identify a talented one in the class of 2025 (and perhaps another as a UDFA). There’s much more long-term benefit with the second option.
Besides, between Jones, Fries, and Kelly, they’ve practically made Minnesota a destination for a talented young running back to develop over the next two seasons. It would be a shame to waste such a golden opportunity for the Purple and Gold.
