The loss of a good left tackle can have a crippling effect on a football team, of course. The Seattle Seahawks have been without Charles Cross, who is indeed a good LT, for one game now, and the team will likely be without him for the final two games of the regular season. The hope is that he can return in the playoffs.
In his place is veteran Josh Jones, who has bounced around the NFL since he was taken in the third round of the 2020 draft. Seattle is Jones's fourth different team in the last four seasons. Before Week 16 of this season, Jones hadn't started since early in the 2023 season.
This past offseason, the offensive tackle signed just a one-year deal worth as much as $4.75 million with Seattle, and the hope was, like all presumed backups, that he wouldn't play. If he did, the likelihood would have been at right tackle, where starter Abraham Lucas had missed a lot of time over the previous two years.
Josh Jones was surprisingly good for the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16 (and will need to stay that way)
Instead, Lucas has been healthy all year so far, and Cross hurt his hamstring in Week 15. Things could have gotten ugly against a good Los Angeles Rams defense in Week 16 as LA and Seattle battled for first place in the NFC West. Things didn't get ugly at left tackle, though.
Jones played 68 snaps, and 47 of them were pass-block reps. He allowed just two quarterback pressures, and both were hurries. In other words, Sam Darnold didn't get touched by someone Jones was blocking. Jones was also quite good in terms of run-blocking.
In the biggest game of the season for the Seattle Seahawks, Josh Jones was unexpectedly great. He will obviously need to stay that way in the last two weeks of the season, but if he can lock down left tackle, that is one key worry that the Seahawks might have assumed they would have at the end of the season.
Jones has played so well in limited snaps, and assuming he continues to be efficient in the final two games, he might be a low-budget player that John Schneider has to make a priority in re-signing. Jones isn't going to be expected to start, but he proved in Week 16 that he can play as well as a starter in spot duty.
He is also just 28 years old, so a two-year deal at around $5 million a season would be a smart move. The Seahawks can easily afford that.