Why the Seahawks should chase Dre’Mont Jones in free agency
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks had a great defense in the early 2010s for many reasons. One key to that was defensive linemen who can play inside and outside. This means a player who is equally effective lining up at defensive end or defensive tackle.
The reason this works, obviously, is it means a team can keep productive players on the field on all three downs while rotating in more specialized players as well. A perfect example of a player who play end or tackle was Michael Bennett. Bennett was quick and strong enough on the inside to beat guards and centers. But he was also technically excellent at end and could get around tackles for sacks.
Michael Bennett is the reason the Seahawks need a player like Dre’Mont Jones. Jones is a free agent who has played his first four seasons for the Broncos. He is 6’3″ and 280 pounds which is almost exactly the size of Bennett was. And Jones shares a lot of the same qualities that made Bennett good.
Seahawks should try to sign Dre’Mont Jones in free agency
Jones is a 26-year-old hitting free agency at a nearly perfect time for him. The Broncos likely can’t afford to pay him because Denver has $12 million to spend in free agency in 2023 but has some important decisions to make on key players in 2024. Jones probably wants a long-term deal and Denver probably doesn’t want to make that commitment.
Jones would immediately make the Seahawks’ defense better, however. He has had at least 5.5 sacks in each of the past three seasons along with double-digit quarterback hits. In both of the last two years, he has had 9 tackles for loss. Plus, Jones appears to still be getting better.
Jones also played in a base 3-4 front in Denver so transitioning to the Seahawks scheme would not be an issue. He can also play either side of the defensive front so his flexibility there would allow Seattle to rotate pass rushers in or run stoppers in depending on the situation.
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The Seahawks might not ever have a defense as good as the one in the early 2010s. Heck, no NFL team might not. But adding a Michael Bennett-type player in Dre’Mont Jones sure gets Seattle a lot closer to that version of the defense than what we have seen in the last few seasons.