EAGAN, Minn. — It seems safe to rule out at least one possibility as the Minnesota Vikings sort through their backfield options this spring. They do not want to repeat their heavy use of veteran Aaron Jones, who set career highs in touches (306), carries (255) and offensive snaps (700) in his first season with the team.
Jones made it through all 18 games, even while nursing hip, rib and quadriceps injuries. He had the most rushing yards (1,138) and second-most yards from scrimmage (1,546) in his career. But as he approaches free agency at age 30, the Vikings have signaled that they will dial back his playing time if he returns.
“The big thing for me is we loved having Aaron Jones, the impact he had,” coach Kevin O’Connell told SiriusXM earlier this month. “For the better part of his career, he had kind of been a part of backfield committees, but for the most part, Aaron Jones was the feature back [in 2024]. … So I would love to have Aaron back. And then we just continue to grow in that room, whether it’s infusing a young player in the draft or maybe another player in free agency alongside Aaron Jones, hopefully.”
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O’Connell made similar comments heading into the 2024 season, and the vision seemed clear during a Week 1 victory over the New York Giants. Jones carried the ball 14 times for 94 yards and a touchdown while playing 52% of the team’s snaps, and third-year backup Ty Chandler took another eight carries and played 35.7% of the snaps.
But the Vikings soon lost faith in Chandler and, during a transition period after they acquired Cam Akers as the new backup, Jones slid into more of an every-down role. He played 63% of the team’s offensive snaps and took 67% of the team’s carries by running backs the rest of the way.
Speaking after the Vikings’ wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Jones said he “of course” hoped to return to Minnesota in 2025.
“We’ll see how it plays out,” he added, “but this is where I want to be.”
Even if he is best suited for more of a rotational role, Jones remains one of the best options in a presumptive free agent class that also includes Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, Rico Dowdle, Javonte Williams and Akers. His $7 million contract last season ranked 14th among running backs in average per year (APY), and he could have multiple suitors among teams that want to sign a veteran runner.
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Many teams, however, will be sorting through what is projected to be a deep class of running backs in the draft. ESPN’s Field Yates ranks Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Georgia’s Trevor Etienne as the top five available.
With four projected picks, the Vikings have the lowest total of draft capital in the NFL. Would drafting a running back make sense for a team that also needs to address the interior of both lines, while dealing with a collection of circumstances that has left their top four cornerbacks and two starting safeties all eligible for free agency?
The Vikings have made modest attempts in recent years to build their backfield depth through the draft, selecting Chandler in the 2022 fifth round and adding DeWayne McBride in the seventh round the following year. But they acquired Akers via trade in both 2023 and 2024 to supplant Chandler on the depth chart, while McBride spent 2023 on the practice squad and was waived after training camp last summer.
All of this discussion, of course, is devoted to what has been a secondary element of the Vikings’ offense since O’Connell arrived in 2022. Having built the scheme around All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson, the Vikings ranked No. 29 in designed runs (33.6 per game) during the 2022 and 2023 seasons combined.
That percentage rose to 39 in 2024 (17th in NFL) as O’Connell sought more balance amid a quarterback transition from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold. That was the impetus behind signing Jones last spring, and it will remain a priority as the Vikings consider whether to turn over their offense to second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
If Jones returns, however, it will likely look different from his workhorse role in 2024.
