Baker, 4th to Titans for LB Ernest Jones IV

[Mistashoesta]

 

[cymatica]

And we have yet to see what these guys do when Pete isn’t the one stirring the pot. Early indicators are positive

Yep

 

[jammerhawk]

Let’s get back to the player traded for. Jones was the Rams tackles leader last season, that’s a plus for us. Besides, the Rams knew they needed to trade the player for cap reasons as they have screwed themselves for a while to win the SB. Maybe Jones wants a big contract that the Rams can’t fit given other priorities. The Titans were going nowhere and are in fire sale mode. Perhaps he wants a deal that the Titans don’t want to pay. We’ll see If he can be re-signed here.

It was clear that Baker wasn’t performing well as our MLB or wasn’t a good fit in Mac’s D. There were numerous plays where Baker missed tackles or was out of position and was weak against the run. Worse he had been unhealthy since arriving. Jones is a sure tackler, Baker wasn’t. even if there isn’t a cap savings to me it’s worth making the switch to younger and presumably healthier player Who is a better tackler. In that regard it’s clear the team needed help at ILB.

For me the cherry on top of this trade was a Rams fan who today was melting down on Sirius XM NFL radio about Jones now being a Seahawk and the Rams only got a 6th for trading away the top tackler on their team and the Hawks gave the Titans a 4th and a player. He wondered WTF the Rams were doing trading away this player who was a very good player for them, but was upset more the player was going to the Hawks. That tells me lots.

Once again I think this was good trade.

 

[Seahawkwalt1967]

Sounds like we have a leader!

 

[Superbowl 48]

This must be one of Mike's picks, so let's see how it turns out.

On the surface, it looks like a bad trade. He needs to be resigned next year, gave up a 4th, and a serviceable player for him. Baker was a 3rd round draft pick, and Jones was a 3rd round draft pick, so we are losing a 4th out of this deal.

I don't like it, but maybe coach sees Jones as a key player moving forward. I propose that the Seahawks hire Bill Belichick for General Manager (if he would go for it), that guy always seems to find trading partners, who are suckers.

Titans win trade, unless Jones turns out to be a leader on defense. That's my take.

 

[Natethegreat]

We are fortunate that the Titans took on Jerome Baker. He stunk and was one of the problems on run defense. We gave up a fourth for a quality and much needed middle linebacker. How in the hell is that an overpay?
Would anyone here be upset if we drafted a forth round high quality middle linebacker? No we would all be doing back flips. So we have to pay him. So what? Thats what you do when you want to keep good quality players.
I for one am ecstatic we don't have to endure more truly terrible linebacker play out there.

 

[HOF Hater]

This must be one of Mike's picks, so let's see how it turns out.

On the surface, it looks like a bad trade. He needs to be resigned next year, gave up a 4th, and a serviceable player for him. Baker was a 3rd round draft pick, and Jones was a 3rd round draft pick, so we are losing a 4th out of this deal.

I don't like it, but maybe coach sees Jones as a key player moving forward. I propose that the Seahawks hire Bill Belichick for General Manager (if he would go for it), that guy always seems to find trading partners, who are suckers.

Titans win trade, unless Jones turns out to be a leader on defense. That's my take.

This is a great trade. He'll be resigned. We have two 4th rounders next year. Baker was anything up serviceable. No one cares what round Baker was taken in, we didn't draft him. Jones was the defensive leader for both the Rams and Titans. Belichick wasn't a great GM at the end of this tenure at NE.

I'm gonna be a bit of a dick here but you need to watch more football and let it stick in your brain.

 

[Chukarhawk]

This must be one of Mike's picks, so let's see how it turns out.

On the surface, it looks like a bad trade. He needs to be resigned next year, gave up a 4th, and a serviceable player for him. Baker was a 3rd round draft pick, and Jones was a 3rd round draft pick, so we are losing a 4th out of this deal.

I don't like it, but maybe coach sees Jones as a key player moving forward. I propose that the Seahawks hire Bill Belichick for General Manager (if he would go for it), that guy always seems to find trading partners, who are suckers.

Titans win trade, unless Jones turns out to be a leader on defense. That's my take.

Bro what? This dude is a straight up DOG. The defense just got way more physical in one day. This is a HUGE get and he's going to make a noticeable difference right away. This is a 24 year old Bobby Wagner clone.

 

[Mistashoesta]

 

[flv2]

Jones was a good, but somewhat limited, player for the Rams. If the choice was keep him for 1 year and get nothing or trade him for a 6th every Rams fan would have opted to keep him, (and still would, and would take him back in a heart-beat). He has knee issues and potentially a very short career ahead of him. I wouldn't want to sign him to more than 1 year of guarantees. I also wouldn't want to sign him to what he's worth as a 1 year guarantee. He's a player you want to sign for minimal guarantees and large game-day appearance bonuses. I thought he was worth a high 4th or possibly even a low 3rd before the season. He has to be worth a bit less now. It's a win-now move and a slight overpay by Seattle, but you are getting a good player. Just don't fall in love with him and sign him to a 2 year guarantee. To qualify for a 5th round compensatory pick in 2025 the salary needed is probably $7M per season. This would be a 2026 pick. You may be looking at a 6th or 7th round pick if he leaves after this season.

 

[flv2]

Many Rams fans interpreted this as an issue between HC and player. When McVay has such an issue he wants the player gone and gone yesterday regardless of value or cost.

 

[Ycrew]

In fairness though you aren't taking into account the financial aspects of the deal. Baker is on a one year, $7-million deal while Ernest Jones is still on his rookie contract. Jones might've garnered a 5th or 6th if it was just him, but to take Jerome Baker and his contract off our hands, the deal was going to have to be sweeter. So, we give up a 4th as opposed to a 5th, if he becomes a long term answer at LB, and we have more cap flexibility this year to do another splash trade, is it really that bad of a deal?

Ernest wants to get paid but Geno also wants to get paid

 

[seabowl]

Jones was a good, but somewhat limited, player for the Rams. If the choice was keep him for 1 year and get nothing or trade him for a 6th every Rams fan would have opted to keep him, (and still would, and would take him back in a heart-beat). He has knee issues and potentially a very short career ahead of him. I wouldn't want to sign him to more than 1 year of guarantees. I also wouldn't want to sign him to what he's worth as a 1 year guarantee. He's a player you want to sign for minimal guarantees and large game-day appearance bonuses. I thought he was worth a high 4th or possibly even a low 3rd before the season. He has to be worth a bit less now. It's a win-now move and a slight overpay by Seattle, but you are getting a good player. Just don't fall in love with him and sign him to a 2 year guarantee. To qualify for a 5th round compensatory pick in 2025 the salary needed is probably $7M per season. This would be a 2026 pick. You may be looking at a 6th or 7th round pick if he leaves after this season.

And there you go. As I said earlier, the guy breaks the team record in tackles last season and is entering just his fourth year now and the Rams didn’t want him, and now the Titans trade him as well. All I’m going to say is don’t hang your hat on him because either due to injury concerns or something else, teams have some sort of issue with him.

On top of that, when was the last time you remember us getting great value in a trade? The Titans got him from the Rams with a 6th round pick and all they gave up was a fifth round pick. We for some reason, trade him for a player and the fourth round pick. Just seems that we rarely get the best value in compensation of a trade.

 

[Jegpeg]

In fairness though you aren't taking into account the financial aspects of the deal. Baker is on a one year, $7-million deal while Ernest Jones is still on his rookie contract. Jones might've garnered a 5th or 6th if it was just him, but to take Jerome Baker and his contract off our hands, the deal was going to have to be sweeter. So, we give up a 4th as opposed to a 5th, if he becomes a long term answer at LB, and we have more cap flexibility this year to do another splash trade, is it really that bad of a deal?

I must admit I don't fully understand contracts but according to OTC Baker's contract was $4m signing bonus, $2m base and $1m per game roster bonus. I would have though that would mean the Titans only pay a pro rata on the base and roster bonus (assuming they keep him on their roster). Jones in on $3.1m base isn't salary impact pretty much unchanged for them?

It looks like the Titans did very well with the two trades, They turned a 2026 5th Round pick into a 2025 4th round pick + 2026 6th Round pick and staring LB (even if he is only Back up standard), even in the worst cast they can cut Baker at a cost of around $1.2m (11/18th of his base salary if that is correct).

That means either the Rams got a poor deal or we did (or a bit of both), only time will tell.

 

[Lagartixa]

We are fortunate that the Titans took on Jerome Baker. He stunk and was one of the problems on run defense. We gave up a fourth for a quality and much needed middle linebacker. How in the hell is that an overpay?

The Seahawks gave up a player who is good enough to make an NFL roster plus a fourth-round draft pick for a player who looks like a clear upgrade. But it can be true that it's an upgrade, and simultaneously true that the Seahawks gave up too much for three months of control of the player who is clearly better.

Would anyone here be upset if we drafted a forth round high quality middle linebacker? No we would all be doing back flips. So we have to pay him. So what? Thats what you do when you want to keep good quality players.

The difference is that if the Seahawks used a fourth-round pick to draft a linebacker and got a high-quality player, they'd have that player under team control for wicked cheap for four years. The Seahawks get Jones for a little over three months before he becomes a free agent, so despite having already given up a player and a fourth-round pick, the Seahawks will have the same chance of signing Jones in the 2025 offseason as they would have without giving up a player and a pick for him.

The backflips people would be doing if the Seahawks were to find a quality starting middle linebacker in the fourth round of a draft would be because the Seahawks would be guaranteed control of that player for four years with annual cap hits in the neighborhood of $1.2M.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Love this move. And the Hawks have an extra 4th next year anyway. This guy is a tackling machine. He's also only 24. I suspect an extension will happen. Also, I'm good letting JS do his job, and he's really good at it.

 

[flv2]

I must admit I don't fully understand contracts but according to OTC Baker's contract was $4m signing bonus, $2m base and $1m per game roster bonus. I would have though that would mean the Titans only pay a pro rata on the base and roster bonus (assuming they keep him on their roster). Jones in on $3.1m base isn't salary impact pretty much unchanged for them?

It looks like the Titans did very well with the two trades, They turned a 2026 5th Round pick into a 2025 4th round pick + 2026 6th Round pick and staring LB (even if he is only Back up standard), even in the worst cast they can cut Baker at a cost of around $1.2m (11/18th of his base salary if that is correct).

That means either the Rams got a poor deal or we did (or a bit of both), only time will tell.

Bit of both. Baker was a 1 year $7M contract but $4M was up front as a signing bonus. That $4M is gone. Effectively both players are on 1 year deals at $3M, and we're just over a third into the season. It's a swap of players due about $2M for the rest of the season. Not sure i'd want my team to spend $2M on Baker for the last 10 games. The Seahawks might be giving up 7th round Draft value for a team to take Baker's contract, (there was $1.235M remaining in guarantees). I'd be more annoyed at my team wasting $5M on Baker for 7 games rather than overpaying by a low 5th or high 6th Draft pick value in a trade.

 

[WmHBonney]

Jones was a good, but somewhat limited, player for the Rams. If the choice was keep him for 1 year and get nothing or trade him for a 6th every Rams fan would have opted to keep him, (and still would, and would take him back in a heart-beat). He has knee issues and potentially a very short career ahead of him. I wouldn't want to sign him to more than 1 year of guarantees. I also wouldn't want to sign him to what he's worth as a 1 year guarantee. He's a player you want to sign for minimal guarantees and large game-day appearance bonuses. I thought he was worth a high 4th or possibly even a low 3rd before the season. He has to be worth a bit less now. It's a win-now move and a slight overpay by Seattle, but you are getting a good player. Just don't fall in love with him and sign him to a 2 year guarantee. To qualify for a 5th round compensatory pick in 2025 the salary needed is probably $7M per season. This would be a 2026 pick. You may be looking at a 6th or 7th round pick if he leaves after this season.

I've heard about the "knee issues" elsewhere, but nothing in detail. Can you elaborate?

 

[MontanaHawk05]

The Seahawks gave up a player who is good enough to make an NFL roster plus a fourth-round draft pick for a player who looks like a clear upgrade. But it can be true that it's an upgrade, and simultaneously true that the Seahawks gave up too much for three months of control of the player who is clearly better.



The difference is that if the Seahawks used a fourth-round pick to draft a linebacker and got a high-quality player, they'd have that player under team control for wicked cheap for four years. The Seahawks get Jones for a little over three months before he becomes a free agent, so despite having already given up a player and a fourth-round pick, the Seahawks will have the same chance of signing Jones in the 2025 offseason as they would have without giving up a player and a pick for him.

The backflips people would be doing if the Seahawks were to find a quality starting middle linebacker in the fourth round of a draft would be because the Seahawks would be guaranteed control of that player for four years with annual cap hits in the neighborhood of $1.2M.

That fourth round pick could also become EJ Wilson. I just don't see that much hand-wringing justified by that level of draft collateral. A 2nd, maybe.

But Jones is an awesome player and the buzz around the league is that the Rams were stupid for letting him go, FA policy or no. He was getting buzz to the Ravens to fix their issues and instead Mike McDonald swooped in and got him. He's going to spring Dodson free to do more of his best stuff, he's going to loosen the tackling load on our secondary, and he's going to get us a legitimate shot at being a playoff defense.

For me, a 4th-round pick for three months of play is a permissible overpayment when we have otherwise Pro Bowl caliber guys getting buried by Antonio Gibson and Tyrone Tracy. You're probably throwing in the towel on the season if you leave Baker in there.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

I've heard about the "knee issues" elsewhere, but nothing in detail. Can you elaborate?

Knee injury in '23 and it nagged him into TC this year, but he was ready by regular season.