Seahawks position overview: Will re-signing ILB Ernest Jones IV be a top priority?

SEATTLE – No Seattle Seahawks position group changed more during the 2024 season than the inside linebacking corps.
It’s a well-told story, of course, how Seattle moved on at midseason from weakside linebacker Jerome Baker and middle linebacker Tyrel Dodson, replacing them with rookie Tyrice Knight and trade acquisition Ernest Jones IV.
But it’s one that remains worth reviewing because it might have had as much impact as any other move made during the season – and could have lasting ramifications.
That’s Seattle’s hope, anyway.
After trading Baker and a 2025 fourth-round pick to Tennessee for Jones and then cutting Dodson to move Knight into the starting lineup, Seattle’s defense underwent a fairly dramatic statistical transformation.
In the final eight games – all featuring a Jones-Knight inside linebacking tandem – the Seahawks went 6-2 and ranked fourth in the NFL in yards allowed (304.8), fifth in points allowed (18.4) and sixth in pass defense (205.0).
They also showed significant improvement against the run – the biggest issue the Seahawks had early in the season – allowing 121 rushing yards or fewer in six of the last eight games after allowing 155 or more five times in the first nine games.
Now to see if the Seahawks can keep that duo together.
We continue our postseason review of Seattle’s position groups by looking at the inside linebacking position.
Starters Middle linebacker
Ernest Jones IV
Age: 25.
Snaps played in regular season: 667, 58.97%, via Pro Football Reference.
Contract situation: Jones can be an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins March 12 after completing his four-year rookie contract that paid him $3.116 million in 2024.
Weakside linebacker
Tyrice Knight
Age: 24.
Snaps played in regular season: 551, 48.72%.
Contract situation: Knight has three years remaining on his four-year rookie contract, which can pay him up to $4.792 million overall. He is due a nonguaranteed $960,000 base salary in 2025.
Others who played in 2024: Dodson played 604 snaps (53.40%) before being released; Baker played 291 snaps (25.73%) before being traded. Drake Thomas, who played 37 snaps overall, was the only other player who saw any snaps at inside linebacker.
2024 review
To briefly recap, following the change in head coaches from Pete Carroll to Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks also remade their inside linebacking duo in 2023 of Bobby Wagner in the middle and Jordyn Brooks on the weakside.
Brooks signed a three-year deal worth up to $26.250 million with the Dolphins while Wagner signed a one-year contract with Washington worth up to $6.5 million – which, yes, increasingly looks like a bargain for the Commanders. The Seahawks simply decided that when it came to Wagner, now 34, it was time to move on, a decision that can be debated, but that Wagner likely isn’t complaining about now.
To take their places, Seattle signed Baker to a one-year contract worth up to $7 million and Dodson to a one-year deal worth up to $4.26 million.
Seattle then drafted Knight in the fourth round.
The Dodson-Baker duo, though, got off to a rough start as both were limited during the offseason program due to injuries.
Baker then also dealt with a hamstring injury in the preseason, meaning the first time the two played together in a game of any sort was the regular-season opener against Denver.
While everyone downplayed the impact of the two having little time working together, the lack of cohesion seemed evident from the start – and was exacerbated when Baker then was reinjured in the second game of the year and sat out the following two weeks, thrusting Knight into the starting lineup.
Baker returned in time for a home loss against the Giants in which New York gained 175 yards rushing, the most a Giants team that went on to finish 3-14 would gain all season.
The trade for Jones came two weeks later, and the release of Dodson two weeks after that.
Seattle ended up paying Baker $5.074 million for five games.
Seattle paid Dodson $3.020 million for nine games.
But if nothing else, the moves proved the Seahawks weren’t afraid to admit a mistake.
After two games on the weakside, Jones moved to the middle following the release of Dodson and took over wearing the “green dot” helmet, entrusted with getting the play calls from Macdonald and relaying them to the rest of the defense. Everything seemed a bit smoother the rest of the way.
Knight, meanwhile, built off his early playing experience to show good instincts and tackling once elevated to the starting lineup for good.
“I think it’s reflective of the rest of our football team – just keep growing, man. Keep plugging away, keep battling every day, keep figuring out new stuff to grow,” Macdonald said late in the season of the play of Knight in a comment that felt as if it could also have applied to the entire defense.
2025 preview
Knight is under contract for three more seasons, so no issues there.
As for Jones, he made clear at every turn he hopes to stay after a whirlwind season that saw him begin with the Rams, get traded to Tennessee where he spent two months, and then end up in Seattle.
But a report from the NFL Network the day before the season finale stated that negotiations with the Seahawks had been “amicably” paused and that Jones “appears set to hit the (free-agent) market.”
After the Rams game, Jones insisted there’s nothing to worry about.
“We’re going to get it done,” he said. “I’m going to be a Seahawk.”
Still, he and his agency are sure to try to get market value.
And one situation Jones’ representatives figure to watch is that of Kansas City’s Nick Bolton, who is also entering free agency.
Bolton also wears the green dot and is almost the same age as Jones (Bolton turns 25 in March).
Pro Football Focus rates Bolton ahead of Jones on its list of pending free agents and estimated he could command a four-year deal at $60 million total with $40 million guaranteed.
PFF doesn’t have an estimate for Jones.
But OverTheCap.com assessed his value at $8.366 million for this season.
The market for inside linebackers, though, can be tricky. Thought to be the main reason the Rams traded Jones is that they don’t feel inside, or off-ball, linebackers are worth what they often get and weren’t planning to re-sign him.
Other teams also might not value Jones as much as the Seahawks. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus rated Jones 108th out of 189 linebackers this season, including just 140th in pass coverage.
A likely scenario is that each side assesses the market while at the NFL scouting combine (scheduled for Feb. 24-March 3 in Indianapolis) and then tries to get something done before the free-agent negotiating period begins March 10.
Thomas ended the season listed as Knight’s backup and is under contract for 2025.
Josh Ross, who was claimed off waivers from Baltimore – where he played under Macdonald for two seasons – ended the year listed as Jones’ backup. He is now an exclusive rights free agent and also seems sure to return.