Much like the Roy Oswalt-Cardinals contract talks earlier this year, what started out as a basically done deal between the St. Louis Rams and Jason Jones, in NFL rumors circles, has turned into a weekend standoff between the Rams and their arch-nemeses the Seattle Seahawks, who welcomed Jones just hours after he visited the Edward Jones Dome. Despite Cortland Finnegan's best efforts, the Rams won't know for a few days yet whether they've successfully poached their second young Tennessee Titans star of the Jeff Fisher era.
Jones would be a major coup for the Rams, who jettisoned their defensive line stalwarts—James Hall and Fred Robbins—to add to their salary cap room in the first place. The Rams could build it back up with their bounty of draft picks, but a player like Jones who's ready to start for a contending team would go a long way toward rebuilding their shattered credibility.
More SB Nation St. Louis coverage of the Rams' frantic free agency:
- The Rams did successfully sign Cortland Finnegan, who looks to anchor a cursed secondary.
- Meanwhile, Robert Quinn will benefit from the Rams' younger, sparser defensive line.
- The Rams' major leverage against Jones is their Robert Griffin III-infused NFL draft bounty.