There continue to be conflicting reports about Rams linebacker Ernest Jones’ status as an extension candidate. Back in March, we heard that Jones was on the club’s extension radar, but GM Les Snead said just a few days later that he would not authorize a new deal for the contract-year defender in 2024.
“We prioritized spending our resources on additions rather than re-signing from within,” Snead said at the time. When making public comments, general managers will typically discuss the value of developing and extending their own players instead of making external additions, though Snead has never been afraid to zig when others zag and to be candid in his decisions to do so. Plus, the Rams have a history — at least during the Sean McVay era — of letting off-ball linebackers and safeties secure their second contracts elsewhere.
That said, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently wrote that Jones is indeed a candidate for a second contract from the Rams, despite Los Angeles’ general unwillingness to pay big money to an off-ball LB (subscription required). Fowler notes that Jones is considered a “tone-setter” on the club’s defense, and given the 24-year-old defender’s performance and the growth he has shown since the Rams selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft, Snead could be willing to make an exception.
In 2023, Jones recorded 145 tackles and 4.5 sacks across 15 games (all starts) while enjoying a 93% snap share. That production is not a mere byproduct of heavy volume, as the South Carolina alum graded out as the 13th-best linebacker in the league out of 82 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus’ metrics. Of his 145 tackles, 14 of them were behind the line of scrimmage.
Fowler did say that Jones could secure a new deal from the Rams “down the line,” so it does not sound as if anything is imminent, and it’s unclear if negotiations are even taking place. Perhaps Snead & Co. want to see him continue his ascent and replicate his 2023 performance before deviating from their modus operandi, and if Jones is successful in that regard, Los Angeles will of course have exclusive negotiating rights between the end of the 2024 season and the start of the legal tampering period in March 2025.
Jones is due to earn $3.12MM in 2024, the last year of his rookie contract.