SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks started free agency by taking care of their own, but on Saturday, they addressed one of their biggest needs by looking outside of their organization, adding former Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jason Jones.
Prior to reaching an agreement with Jones, Seattle’s only moves since free agency began Tuesday had been re-signing its own players such as defensive end Red Bryant, fullback Michael Robinson and offensive lineman Paul McQuistan. That strategy confirmed what Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said last year — the team was starting to take shape the way he and general John Schneider hoped it would, and that the roster turnover would not continue at the rate it had over the first two offseasons. And for any team, that’s a good thing. When a front office is constantly replacing its existing players with new ones, that’s almost always a sign that the team wasn’t very good, but after two years of overhauling the roster, Carroll and Schneider believe they have many of the pieces in place.
That does not, however, mean that the Seahawks are a team without needs, which is where Jones, who will sign a one-year contract, reportedly worth $4.5 million, comes in. A second-round pick in 2008, Jones was one of the top defensive players left on the free agent market. He spent most of last season as a defensive end, but is more comfortable as a three-technique defensive tackle — the position Alan Branch played last season — which it is believed to be where Seattle plans to use him. For all of the things the Seahawks did well defensively last season, they struggled to generate quarterback pressure. Seattle ranked 19th in the league with 33 sacks, and other than defensive end Chris Clemons, who had 11 sacks, no defensive lineman registered more than three.
While Branch will still undoubtedly have a significant role in the defense, Jones, who had 12.5 sacks in his first three seasons while playing tackle, should help improve Seattle’s pass rush. And for Seattle, which employs a rather non-traditional end in Red Bryant, whose primary job is to stop the run, not rush the quarterback, getting pressure from interior linemen is even more important.
“It’s an area of our football these last two years where it’s not what we need it to be,” Carroll said of his team’s pass rush during his year-end press conference. “… We’re a top-10 defense in the NFL right now and we’re still not rushing the passer the way we want to. Clem had a great year again rushing the passer, two solid contributing years for us, but we need more than that. So we’re going to work hard to find that in the draft and in free agency and all of that.
“That’s an area that really needs to improve for us to take another step. We’re not as lethal as we need to be in that area and you need to really bring it. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened for us yet. But it’s a clear focus for us, for sure.”
In his four seasons with the Titans, Jones started 31 games, totaling 112 tackles, 15.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
