GRENN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – And this was only the negotiation window. Nothing can become official until Wednesday but the Green Bay Packers still made more major moves in NFL free agency in the opening hours today than they’ve made in years.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst cut ties with two of the best players at their position in team history in a matter of minutes, announcing the release of 11 year veteran offensive tackle David Bakhtiari and 7th year veteran running back Aaron Jones.
There were two noteworthy additions to the roster as well with former Oakland and Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs agreeing on a 4 year, 48 million dollar contract and Gutekunst landing perhaps the most sought after safety hitting the market in former New York Giants All Pro Xavier McKinney, reportedly coming to Green Bay on another 4 year contract worth 68 million dollars.
By releasing Bakhtiari and Jones prior to June 1, the Packers will gain about five million dollars in cap space, compared to as much as 12 if they waited. It became obvious Gutekunst wanted to get on with the continued transformation of a roster that grew up with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback versus building a new team around Jordan Love.
Bakhtiari became an instant starter at left tackle after getting drafted in 2014 and became one of the best blind sided protectors in the league.
In his 7 years, Jones had electric production when healthy, working his way into the top five in franchise history in rushing yards, total yards from scrimmage and touchdowns. According to reports, the Packers approached Jones about taking a pay cut as part of a restructured deal, something he did after the 2022 season. After missing several games with a hamstring before a knee injury sidelined him into December, Jones returned to become a focal point of the offensive resurgence into the playoff run.
Both were strong leaders in the locker room and Jones was adored by fans for his off-field commitments, twice earning the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination. But both have serious injury histories and high salary cap numbers for a team still trying to dig out of the Aaron Rodgers dead cap hit from a year ago.
Gutekunst strongly considered bringing Jones back in 2024 but when new agent Drew Rosenhaus paused over the salary restructuring, the GM decided to move on from the 29 year old running back by signing a 26 year old back with almost identical numbers. Jacobs just turned 26 in February. The first round pick of the Raiders in 2019 out of Alabama has started 72 of 73 games in his career. Jacobs topped 1000 yards rushing in each of his first two year and the 1653 yards rushing in 2022 led the NFL earning his first team All-Pro honors. For his career, Jacobs has 1305 attempts for 5545 yards and 46 touchdowns, all second best since he game into the league. He missed four games a year ago and finished with just over 800 yards.
By comparison, Jones has 5940 yards on 11177 attempts with 45 TD’s on the ground, along with another 2076 yards on 272 receptions with 18 more scores, all ranking in the top five in frachise history among running backs.
McKinney may be an even bigger prize. He’s turning 25 in August. A former, high 2nd round pick out of Alabama by the New York Giants in 2021, McKinney has started 46 of 49 games in his career. He has 9 career interceptions, five coming in 2021 with one returned for a touchdown, 279 total tackles and 27 passes defensed. McKinney is considered one of the top deep single high safeties in the league and he’s expected to become a focal point of new Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hafley’s “post” safety plan in the secondary.
There was even more movement taking place with the Packers parting ways with linebacker De’Vondre Campbell over the weekend. Guard Jon Runyan Jr. has reportedly agreed to a deal with the New York Giants and Darnell Savage, who had his final year voided by the Packers last month, apparently agreed to contract terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And veteran tight end Tyler Davis is being re-signed by the team after he tore his ACL in the Pre-Season opener in Cincinnati, spending the entire season on injured reserve.
And were still a couple of days from all this becoming official.
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