The Rams shockingly traded Ernest Jones to the Titans at the end of August, shipping one of their best defensive players out of town just before the start of the season. Immediately after the trade, Sean McVay commented on the decision and he got a bit defensive in saying the Rams felt it was “best for the football team.”
It wasn’t until Tuesday that general manager Les Snead weighed in on the move, sharing his view of it after the trade deadline had passed.
He told reporters that there were “many variables” at play in the trade, but he wouldn’t reveal what those were – for obvious reasons, being a current GM and with Jones now being in Seattle. He did acknowledge that he believes Jones will play well for a long time, potentially even against the Rams twice a year as a member of the Seahawks.
“Being [an] active [GM] right now and Ernest being in the league, there were many variables that went into that. I don’t think it’s good for anyone to sit here and really make that public. It’s always, in our case, what we do – we try to think it’s definitely going to help the Rams in some form or fashion. Again, there are many variables in that but it’s obvious – and we saw him last week – Ernest can play football. He’s going to continue playing football and at this point, we’re going to play him again this year. Depending on what happens with him in the future, we might play him twice a year for a lot of years and expect that with him. That’s just the kind of person he is and obviously the talents that he has.”
In his most recent comments, McVay expressed at least a little bit of seller’s remorse over the trade. The Rams have struggled to replace Jones in the middle of their defense, and even though Chris Shula’s unit is playing well, there was a clear drop-off from Jones to Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom.
“I think all the decisions that we make in the moment we feel like are in the best interest. I’m not going to pretend and act like every decision is accurate,” McVay said last week.
Since being traded by the Rams, Jones was traded by the Titans to the Seahawks. Tennessee actually got more in return for Jones than the Rams did, which is an indication of how poorly managed the deal was by Los Angeles.
It’s almost salt in the wound, especially now that Jones is back in the division and playing against the Rams twice a year.
We’ll probably never learn what exactly led to the decision – whether it was Jones’ knee injury, his contract or an expected drop in production – so that mystery will likely go unsolved for the public.