Seahawks Sign DT/DE Jason Jones to One-Year Deal

The Seahawks have signed defensive linemen Jason Jones to a one-year deal, per his agent Mike McCarthy. Jones had also visited St. Louis but has been in Seattle for the past few days, and following the Rams' decision to sign Kendall Langford to a big deal, it appears his options narrowed. He's a pretty solid interior pass rusher that moved to defensive end last year and struggled. It will be very interesting to see how the Seahawks use him - my guess is that he'll be a rotational 3-tech that can bounce to the outside in certain sets and hopefully play with efficiency in multiple spots . With Brandon Mebane, Alan Branch, Red Bryant, and Clinton McDonald - plus Pep Levingston currently on the roster, the depth on the Seahawks line looks pretty nice, especially pre-Draft.

Jones, 25, is a 6'5, 275 pound physical beast that had 27 tackles and three sacks and one forced fumble in 2011 and has 112 career tackles and 15 1/2 sacks in his career. The deal is probably a little beneficial for both parties - it looks like the market narrowed after Jones' lack of production in 2011, and the Hawks probably didn't offer him much. In just chatting with Scott, one guess is the message John Schneider set out went a little like this - "Look man, you want to get paid, so let's do it for a year, you prove yourself, and we'll take care of you. You see how we take care of our own."

From Jones' perspective, "If I prove myself and the Seahawks don't show me the money, someone else will."

With Marshawn Lynch, Brandon Mebane, Red Bryant, and now Michael Robinson and Paul McQuistan all getting generous new results-based contracts, the precedent is there. When you hear JSPC talk about taking care of their own, it's a culture they're creating where the team's top players are rewarded and retained. We'll see how this one works out, but it's an intriguing deal with Jones in that it's only one year. Obviously, if Jones goes off, he could be a one-and-done player here and may chase the big money, but they're betting that if he produces, he'll ultimately buy into the Seahawks system and culture and want to stay here. If he does produce, they'll reward him.

He's generally regarded as a promising talent, and has shown an ability to pressure from the interior, but spotty production in 2011 after they moved him to defensive end left him without a deal in Tennessee. From the interior though, his size and athleticism allow him to slice and dice offensive lines and though he hasn't gotten huge sack numbers from there, his ability to collapse the pocket and get push from the middle will make it harder for opposing quarterbacks to see their receivers and step into throws. It's a potentially exciting addition to the defense, and should give them some options in defensive sets and personnel groupings.

Doug Farrar notes: "I really like Seattle's Jason Jones signing. Can rush from outside as a big end and play DT in passing downs. Probably subs with Branch, and can play a Raheem Brock role in more traditional four-man fronts. Ideal scheme fit."

Per Aaron Wilson, "Jason Jones' one-year Seahawks deal is $4.5 million fully guaranteed with an additional $500,000 in incentive clauses, per a league source."