Why trading Ernest Jones now makes little sense for the Rams

Les Snead is good at a lot of things, including drafting players outside the first round and finding great values in free agency. One thing he struggles with is getting fair compensation for players on the trade market.

Such is the case with the Ernest Jones deal, which came together on Tuesday before final roster cuts. The Rams are trading Jones and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for a 2026 fifth-rounder – a late-round pick swap that certainly doesn’t improve the Rams’ roster now or next year.

The return for one of the better young linebackers is shockingly low, even when you consider Jones is entering the final year of his contract. The Rams were never going to get back a third-rounder, which is where they drafted Jones in 2021, but only swapping Day 3 picks two years from now is barely anything.

It raises questions about why the Rams would trade away one of their best defenders less than two weeks before the start of the regular season for almost nothing in return. The Rams certainly aren’t better now than they were yesterday. Jones was their defensive signal caller and team captain last year, putting together a terrific 2023 campaign.

He was expected to maintain both of those roles this season before this trade, especially after Aaron Donald said he left the team in the hands of Jones and the Rams’ other young defenders. It’s not as if the Rams are rich with linebacker talent behind him, either. Christian Rozeboom and Troy Reeder could be the next guys up, with Omar Speights waiting in the wings.

And then there’s the compensatory pick factor. If Jones played out this season and signed with another team next offseason when he hit free agency, the Rams would’ve earned a 2026 compensatory pick. Assuming Jones played well and signed a decent contract, that pick could’ve been as high as the fourth round – much better return than what the Rams are getting in this deal.

All of this likely signals something going on behind the scenes that the public isn’t privy to. Jones wanted a new contract, which we know, and the Rams declined to give him one this year. He never held out or requested a trade, however, so he seemed content with playing out the final year of his deal.

One thing that could have led the Rams to make this deal is Jones’ balky knee. He dealt with a knee injury last year, and then again in OTAs. It popped up again two weeks ago when Jones was held out of practice for what Sean McVay said was the “same thing” as what hindered him in the spring.

Four days later, though, McVay said the Rams got “good news” on Jones’ knee and he subsequently returned to practice. It’s possible that the Rams still didn’t like the long-term outlook with Jones’ knee, much like they didn’t with Todd Gurley years ago.

No matter the reasoning, it’s hard to understand this deal for the Rams. It’s one of the more puzzling moves made by Snead since he was hired as the GM in 2012. He’s given fans no reason not to trust him, but this trade doesn’t look like a win for Los Angeles.