It is franchise tag season. In two weeks, the Green Bay Packers and any other NFL team will decide on who to use the franchise tag for. Or use it at all. The franchise tag isn’t something that every team uses. And it always feels like something that is team-focused and not very player-friendly. Some people want the Green Bay Packers to use this on Aaron Jones in the coming weeks. While many people want Jones back, the Packers would be wise to pass on using the tag on Jones for a couple of reasons even if this is likely another nail in the coffin of Jones coming back.

Aaron Jones does not want to be a Packer at the price they want him. Green Bay put a deal on the table for Jones. It was around $11M per year. Jones thinks that he can get $15M. Now, that could be his super-agent Drew Rosenhaus pumping up his value. It is unknown on that front. But Jones is not looking to play for $11M per year. And if the Packers thought they could work out a deal with him, they would likely tag him. But the offer is out there, Jones didn’t like it, so, it makes no sense to tag him and in the worst case, they’re looking at an $11M cap hit for next season. That would destroy any sort of player movement that Green Bay would want to do.

The other part of this is that it could get real ugly between Jones and the team. Running backs have been tagged in the past. Le’Veon Bell is the best example. He held out for a year then got the contract he wanted the year after. Packers should not waste cap dollars on a player that would be unhappy if they do it.

The only way this makes sense is if Green Bay believes they have a real shot at signing Jones. There have been zero indications of that being possible but you never know what’s going on behind closed doors. If the Packers believe they can sign him then I expect him to get tagged to hold him there. But if there’s convinced he is trending the other direction then it’s time to let him spread his wings and get paid by someone else.

Charlie.