Rams open to trade for linebacker Ernest Jones IV
This is an opportunity for Green Bay to get a little better before the regular season kicks off.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Los Angeles Rams linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who is up for a new contract, is on the trading block. Jones, a former third-round pick and Rams team captain, has started 33 games — including 15 last year — in his three years in the league. Apparently, the green dot linebacker and the Rams can’t see eye-to-eye on an extension that would take Jones out of his rookie deal, which is why he’s being shopped.
Linebacker is arguably the shakiest starting position for the Green Bay Packers going into the 2024 regular season, if you aren’t counting specialists. The Packers attempted to resolve the position by adding two rookie draft picks, Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper, on Day 2 of the draft in April.
Unfortunately, those picks haven’t quite panned out as of yet. Cooper dealt with a hip injury, which limited his time with the first-team defense to mostly rotational reps as a nickel linebacker next to Quay Walker. Hopper hasn’t been able to make much of a dent at all in the depth chart, which currently sports Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson as the top 4-3 outside linebacker options.
Last year, McDuffie was a rotational linebacker who split time with De’Vondre Campbell at 3-4 inside linebacker. Wilson was a reserve defender who played 308 special teams snaps to just 121 defensive snaps. In his two years in Green Bay, Wilson has played 505 special teams snaps to 156 defensive snaps.
Essentially, the Packers’ outside linebackers starters in 2024 are expected to be their inside linebacker backups from 2023. Maybe Jones’ availability presents Green Bay with a chance to get better before their game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1. The Packers won’t practice before cutdowns, but they will have five practices before their regular season opener. That should be plenty of time to get Jones acclimated enough to make some packages versus the Eagles.
A trade for Jones doesn’t mean throwing out the two rookie linebackers’ futures, either. Clearly, neither are ready to start in Week 1. That’s fine. Very few rookies are ready to be positive contributors that early. McDuffie and Wilson are both in contract seasons, which would allow the team to transition to a more Cooper and Hopper-centric unit in 2025. No one is saying that Cooper can’t win a starting linebacker job next to Walker and Jones next season.
According to Over the Cap, the Packers currently have $22.9 million available in cap space, which will eventually include the final two players on the team’s 53-man roster, their injured reserve and their practice squad. It could be a thin threading of the needle, but Green Bay could afford a backloaded extension for Jones.
