If you ask former Auburn football star and current Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson, he believes that the contract Aaron Jones was just handed by the Green Bay Packers was not big enough.
No one did, and Johnson even calls his own opinion “unnecessary”, but in this writer’s opinion, knowing what NFL players think of their peers’ contracts is a pretty valuable window into the thinking that said NFL-ers will take into future negotiations.
Johnson posted his Twitter opinion on Sunday after it was announced that the Packers had extended their star rusher to a long-term contract.
Per the former Tiger’s verified account page:
Underpaid in my unnecessary opinion https://t.co/XYsIlAD9Jc
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) March 14, 2021
Jones wasn’t able to replicate his 19-touchdown season from 2019 in 2020, but he was still able to muster over a thousand yards rushing and double-digit touchdowns. His Green Bay Packers were vanquished in the NFC Championship game by the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after winning the NFC North North crown.
As for Johnson, he was less active in his third professional season than his previous two with just 52 carries for 118 yards. That was a sharp dropoff from his first two seasons, with his rookie year total of 642 yards standing as far and away his best
While Johnson may be right about Jones being deserving of a bigger payday, but such an offer just didn’t come in free agency.
Per his agent, Drew Rosenhaus:
"“We anticipated bigger offers in free agency, but Aaron wanted to stay with the Packers,” Rosenhaus told ESPN."
Jones will now return to a Green Bay franchise that has been on the doorstep of a Super Bowl appearance for the past decade but has been unable to breakthrough.
Johnson will now share a backfield with Jared Goff, who was acquired in the deal that sent Matthew Stafford out of the Motor City following a 12-year stint with the Lions.
Hopefully, the former Auburn football standout could put himself in a position to one day earn such a payday.