SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 03: Ernest Jones IV #13 of the Seattle Seahawks reacts during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on November 03, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. . (Photo by Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

NFL ranking for Seahawks' tackling shows why they need to keep Ernest Jones

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Feb 13, 2025 11:21 AM ET

Tackling shouldn't be an issue for a team that expects to make the NFL playoffs every year. Nevertheless, it was a huge problem for the Seattle Seahawks at times during both the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, which was a major reason why former head coach Pete Carroll was let go.

The Seahawks improved significantly in this department under rookie head coach Mike Macdonald in 2024. However, a big part of that bump came thanks to the addition of one key player. Before the trade deadline Seattle pulled off a deal for linebacker Ernest Jones, sending a fourth-round draft pick and Jerome Baker to the Titans in exchange.

It was one of the best mid-season moves that general manager John Schneider has done, and it made an immediate positive impact for Seattle's defense - especially in run defense. For the year the Seahawks have been ranked 14th in tackling by NFL.com, but without Jones it would have been a different story.

NFL.com on Seahawks tackling

"The Seahawks recorded the 11th-lowest missed tackle rate this season (12.1%), thanks largely to their ability to convert on first-tackle opportunities at the sixth-highest rate (61.4%). A major factor in that success was midseason acquisition Ernest Jones, who finished third on the team in tackles (94) in just 10 games. His missed tackle rate with the Seahawks (6.0%) ranked as the third-lowest in the NFL (minimum of 100 tackle attempts)... Jones is set to hit free agency, but keeping the stud tackler in place would help sustain Seattle's defensive progress."

Another way to phrase sustaining progress would be avoiding becoming a dumpster fire - which is what the Seahawks defense has been at times over the last few years without a reliable starting middle linebacker holding things together.

To be sure, re-signing Jones won't come cheap. The best off-ball linebackers in the league these days are making a little less than the $20 million a year standard Roquan Smith has set. Our best guess is that Jone would make somewhere around $18.5 million a year, which would put him between Fred Warner and Tremaine Edmunds as the third-highest paid linebacker in the game.

That's a lot for a non-premium position, but winning has never come cheap and without Jones this defense very well might relapse into the completely-helpless against the run unit that we've seen far too often in the post-Legion of Boom era. The offensive line has to be the team's top priority, but on defense keeping Jones around should be 1a, 1b and 1c.