Aaron Jones’ playoff resurgence didn’t keep the Packers from making a splash by adding Josh Jacobs.
The Packers quietly snuck into a lively running-back market Monday and agreed to terms with Jacobs on a four-year, $48 million contract, according to NFL Network.
Shortly after, Green Bay informed Jones, who posted 226 rushing yards and three scores during the Packers two-game playoff run, that he was being released, making the 29-year-old a free agent, per multiple reports.
Jacobs is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-low 3.5 yards per carry but is only one year removed from leading the NFL with 1,653 yards.
Terms of the contract were not immediately available.
Jacobs’ presence adds some uncertainty to the future of Jones, who took a pay cut last offseason to remain with the Packers and has one year remaining on his contract at an $11.1 million salary.
He carried 39 times for 226 yards and three touchdowns, while adding four catches for 21 yards during the Packers’ two playoff games.
The Packers boast the NFL’s youngest roster, so those cost-controlled contracts allowed the salary-cap room to spend on a running back.
Jacobs was the third starting running back to change teams on the first day of free agency — joining Tony Pollard (from Cowboys to Titans) and D’Andre Swift (from Eagles to Bears) — which could signal an uptick in the market after it stagnated last offseason.
Jacobs, 26, was franchise tagged last offseason after his breakthrough numbers and played on an elevated one-year contract worth $11.7 million.
Jones, who had three seasons of more than 1,450 yards from scrimmage while playing alongside Aaron Rodgers earlier in his career, slipped to 889 in 11 games during an injury-plagued 2023 season.