Packers 2021 free agency predictions: Who stays, who goes?

Aaron Jones: Franchise tagged

It might be hard to believe given the Packers’ salary cap situation, but using the franchise tag on Aaron Jones has to be considered a real possibility.

While the salary cap is set to be lowered, so too are the franchise tag numbers. Over The Cap’s latest projections has the franchise tag for running backs sitting at a little over $8 million. For a star player like Jones, that’s affordable. Spotrac’s market value projections have Jones making $14.6 million per year if he signs a long-term deal in free agency, so a one-year, $8 million contract for 2021? Not so bad.

Of course, the downside of using the franchise tag is that the cap hit all comes in one year. The Packers would be unable to structure the deal to make that cap hit lower for 2021, although they would have extra time during the offseason to work out a long-term contract with Jones.

Where it perhaps becomes complicated is if Jones decides against signing the tender and holds out for a new deal. Up to this point, the two sides have been unable to come to an agreement on a multi-year contract.

GM Brian Gutekunst wouldn’t rule out the possibility of using the franchise tag on Jones when speaking to reporters earlier this week. Given Jones’ importance to the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense, the Packers might not have any choice but to use the franchise tag.