By Michael-Shawn Dugar, Joe Rexrode and Cale Clinton
The Seattle Seahawks have acquired Tennessee Titans linebacker Ernest Jones IV in a trade, according to multiple reports. Seattle will send Tennessee linebacker Jerome Baker and a fourth-round draft pick in exchange for the fourth-year linebacker.
Tennessee acquired Jones via a trade with the Los Angeles Rams in August, sending a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Rams in exchange for Jones and a 2026 sixth. In 2023, Jones posted a career-best 145 tackles that led all Rams defenders, and his career-high 14 tackles for loss were second on the team behind Aaron Donald and seventh-most in the league among off-ball linebackers. Through six games with Tennessee this season, Jones’ 44 combined tackles were second-most on the team behind Kenneth Murray. Jones, a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, is currently in the final year of his rookie contract.
The Seahawks acquired Baker in free agency this past offseason, signing the 27-year-old linebacker to a one-year, $7 million contract. Baker started five of Seattle’s seven games this season, posting 33 tackles, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. He missed two games in September with a hamstring injury.
In his return to the NFC West, Jones should bring an immediate boost to Seattle’s run defense. Through seven games this season, Seattle is one of just four teams to allow at least 1,000 rushing yards on the season. Their 5.0 rushing yards per attempt allowed is the fifth-highest in the league, according to ProFootballReference. Tennessee has excelled in stopping the run this season, posting the sixth-best defensive rushing DVOA on the year while allowing just 3.9 yards per carry, fourth-lowest in the league.
With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, Tennessee has already become one of the league’s busiest sellers. Earlier today, the Titans sent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick.
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Chiefs trade for DeAndre Hopkins from Titans
Jones has experience in Seahawks new defensive system
Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson worked with Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald in Baltimore and is running a version of the same scheme in Nashville. So, Jones should be able to get up to speed quickly since the terminology is likely very similar. If he can pick up the playbook, Jones would be the starter next to Tyrel Dodson in Week 8 against Buffalo (Jones and the Titans played the Bills in Week 7 and in that game, he had five tackles and two QB pressures). Seattle’s backup linebackers would continue to be rookie Tyrice Knight and Drake Thomas. Those two split reps when Baker was out because of his hamstring. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seattle Seahawks beat writer
Titans improve picks with Jones trade, but he could have been a keeper
The way Jones was playing, and backing up his reputation as a leader with the Rams, it figured he might be one of the guys the Titans decided to keep around through the process of trying to become competitive and relevant again. But this moves means they parted with a fifth-round pick for Jones and ended up with a 2025 fourth and 2026 sixth, plus Baker for the rest of this season. It’s also worth remembering the Titans drafted inside linebacker Cedric Gray in the fourth round in April. He’s been injured but needs to become a candidate to start in 2025. — Joe Rexrode, senior writer
Seattle admits defeat on Baker experiment
Seattle signed Baker while letting Jordyn Brooks hit free agency and sign with Miami this spring, essentially a linebacker swap with the Dolphins. The only difference: Baker signed a one-year, $7 million deal while Brooks, Seattle’s first-round pick in 2020, got $26.2 million over three years. The Seahawks figured pairing Baker with free-agent signee Tyrel Dodson would be a cheaper upgrade at the linebacker position over Brooks and Bobby Wagner (now with the Commanders).
Trading Baker seven weeks into the season is an admission that one half of the experiment was a failure. Baker missed most of the offseason program with a hamstring injury, and even though he was able to return for the season opener, he aggravated the injury in Week 2 and missed the next couple weeks. Since rejoining the lineup in Week 5, Baker had 28 total tackles, one sack and a forced fumble that led to a 102-yard touchdown. But he also had issues defending the intermediate part of the field and finding the ball against the run. Those struggles are likely why he’s headed to Tennessee. — Dugar
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(Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
