What many Green Bay Packers fans already knew is now confirmed: running back AJ Dillon, whom the team drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, will not be returning to the only NFL franchise he has ever known in 2025.
Per Zachary Jacobson of Packer Report, “A source confirmed to Packer Report on Tuesday that Dillon won’t be returning to Green Bay and will instead test unrestricted free agency. Multiple teams have already expressed interest in the 26-year-old who missed the entirety of the 2024 campaign on injured reserve with a neck injury.”
As Jacobson notes, Dillon missed the entire 2024 season after suffering a neck stinger during a preseason game. It was his second such injury in the span of a year, leading many to wonder if his NFL career would be cut short.
Fortunately for him, it will continue after being medically cleared by doctors. It just will not continue in Green Bay.
AJ Dillon Will Not Return to the Green Bay Packers in 2025
As mentioned, Dillon was drafted by the Packers in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the same year that they selected Jordan Love in the first round as the successor to Aaron Rodgers. And while Dillon saw the field long before Love did, both started out their careers buried on Green Bay’s depth chart.
Dillon made the initial 53-man roster as the third running back behind Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. But a breakout game against the Tennessee Titans when both Jones and Williams were limited with injuries led the team to believe he was ready to be the primary backup.
In that game, he carried the ball 21 times for 124 yards and a touchdown.
To date, it is the best single game of his career.
In 2021, Dillon gained 1,116 all-purpose yards and scored seven total touchdowns. The following year, he had seven rushing touchdowns, though his total yards production dipped to 976. And in 2023, it fell even more to 836 despite the fact that he still had 200 total touches.
The self-proclaimed Mayor of Door County has made the state of Wisconsin his home, and he has said it will remain so even after his time with the Packers is over. He has been a regular fixture at Green Bay area high school basketball games and does a great deal to give back to the community.
Jacobson notes above that multiple NFL teams have expressed interest and reached out to Dillon. Whichever team signs him will get a consummate professional and even better human being.
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