Grade The Contact: Aaron Jones’ pay cut details emerge and they are bigger than expected
The Vikings got a big win with Aaron Jones’ pay cut.
One of the bigger surprises for the Minnesota Vikings this year was how they navigated the salary cap situation. They were more than $46 million over the salary cap, and they did some expected things. One that wasn’t expected was keeping running back Aaron Jones.
He was set to cost $14.55 million against the salary cap, but would have saved $7.55 million if they had cut him, which was initially the plan. The two sides agreed on a pay cut that would lower his salary cap hit. It was initially reported as $3.5 million, which would be a cap hit of $4.25 million more than if they had cut him. However, it turns out that isn’t quite the case.
Aaron Jones took a larger pay cut than initially reported
The contract details are out for Jones, and they are much more friendly than originally expected.
- $5 million fully guaranteed base salary
- $510k per game roster bonus
- $50k workout bonus
- $10.21 million salary cap hit
This essentially ensures that Jones will be on the Vikings next season, as they only save $410k on the salary cap if they choose to cut him. The cap hit overall is $4.34 million less than what it was projected to be, and a whopping $3.41 million more than outright cutting him. The latter is a very important number, as the Vikings were not going to get anywhere near the type of player that Jones is for that price.
The other important aspect for the Vikings is there are no void years on the contract. There won’t be any dead money in the 2027 season for Jones, which is good for the Vikings’ long-term salary cap health.
Overall, this is a big win for both sides, as the Vikings end up improving their salary cap space to $8.02 million.
Grade: A