At the end of this past season, it was a foregone conclusion that there’d be a shake up on the Green Bay Packers. With their success from this past season led by Jordan Love’s first year under center, fans wanted action this offseason.
Action they got.
The Green Bay Packers released plenty of notable names, including David Bakhtiari, and even had a sour ending with running back Aaron Jones. However, even with these changes, the team brought in free agents like Josh Jacobs from the Raiders and the No. 1 safety Xavier McKinney. One player was expected to move on from Green Bay, and that was AJ Dillon.
In a surprise turn of events, AJ Dillon re-signed with the Green Bay Packers. According to Ian Rapoport, the team used a rare contract option to retain his services:
Green Bay used a rare 4-year Qualifying Offer on AJ Dillon to keep him around. https://t.co/uzE6LjzsVd
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2024
This qualifying offer is designed to allow teams to keep veterans by spending $1.45 million in money that doesn’t count against the salary cap on players who have played at least four consecutive seasons with a single team and are returning to the same team on a one-year deal.
Four-year qualifying contract: Another type of veteran salary benefit, it can be offered to a player with at least four credited seasons whose contract with a team has expired after being on said team for four or more consecutive, uninterrupted league years prior to his contract…
— Andrew Groover (@APGroover) March 14, 2024
Under this kind of deal, Dillon gets a signing bonus of $167,000 and his base salary can’t be over $2.575M. #Packers get a huge cap benefit. He would count about $1.1M against the cap. No-risk deal #Packers can get out of at anytime without cap ramifications. https://t.co/l0rosg9BH5
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) March 14, 2024
It’s complicated, and there’s plenty to unpack regarding the fit and how the Green Bay Packers will use him. Even fans had a mixed reaction to AJ Dillon’s return.
Fans Reactions to the Green Bay Packers Retaining AJ Dillon
Understandably, some fans were excited at the prospect of AJ Dillon and Josh Jacobs teaming up out of the backfield.
Put that track on repeat the Quadfather is back! #GoPackGo https://t.co/xeJPwZ6rbm pic.twitter.com/oJkgDcy7an
— Packerfan Total Access- Clayton (@packers_access) March 14, 2024
Packers fans love you Quadzilla #GoPackGo https://t.co/pd4WcRHhZD pic.twitter.com/Nl49iYCLW5
— SizzlingMMA (@bacon9292) March 14, 2024
Yes!! AJ loves all things Green Bay, we needed to keep him around. https://t.co/oAcB2iLxHF pic.twitter.com/CG61R4Rred
— Matt Leindecker™ (@FSUMonkeyMan) March 14, 2024
This is what loyalty looks like! Super pumped to have AJ back in the fold 🔥🔥 https://t.co/1VTLMp14SS
— Big B (@bigpackers4x) March 14, 2024
Others were upset or confused by the signing, especially with the departure of a fan favorite in Aaron Jones to the rival Minnesota Vikings.
WE RESIGNED THIS BUM OVER AARON JONES? https://t.co/GzTb2sNRze pic.twitter.com/Ipj1GqsauP
— 𝙏𝙚𝙯 (@TezFrm901) March 14, 2024
Josh Jacobs already there. https://t.co/lZQZZEfKUx pic.twitter.com/iZrWDy7hoZ
— Dean Tanner (@DeanJTanner) March 14, 2024
This worse letting Jones go forreal smh https://t.co/4e8uYiSx7y
— ThePack_Man (@___ThePack) March 14, 2024
Regardless of the feelings surrounding AJ Dillon’s return to the Green Bay Packers, he’ll help bring some more thunder to the running game and could be an unstoppable force with Josh Jacobs. It remains to be seen how he will be used, but time will tell.
