BREAKING: Rams Trade Ernest Jones to Titans, Trade Return Revealed, Why LA Traded Jones, What's Next

the Rams traded who for what that's coming up next on lock on [Music] Rams you are locked on Rams your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is up ramley and welcome to another episode of Locked on Rams but an emergency breaking news reaction episode of Locked on my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on X and Instagram at dmla and of course as always I'm joined by the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers you can follow him on X Travis Rogers and we're going to waste no time let's get right into it send shock waves through the Rams Universe it was announced today that Ernest Jones has been traded to the Tennesseee Titans in a 2026 6 round pick for a 2026 fifth round pick so a late round pick swap for Ernest Jones and he is a Titan the Rams acted fast they cleared this drama up quick and the Rams now are without their Green Dot guy someone had a SE on his chest last season someone who Aaron Donald said he was giving this defense to the keys this Rams defense well it's a big shakeup so I'll start by saying this Travis the Rams know something that we don't the Rams have a plan and I'll tell you the first when I when I saw it on my phone I fell to my knees at a Chipotle I my knees at a Chipotle and as I starting to think about it we'll get into it but the Rams know something that we don't okay uh sure I I I hope so I hope there's a plan B because my first reaction was wasn't that they have something up their sleeve I hope that they do we can talk about that in a second but my first my first response was do not threaten them do not play with this this team do not do not try to think that you have leverage that you may not have if you're Aaron Donald you might be able to to try something like this if you're Matthew Stafford you might be able to do something like this but if you are somebody that is not Irreplaceable and clearly the Rams felt that Ernest Jones was not Irreplaceable if you make waves if you make noise if you are the squeaky wheel you will not last that that that was the takeaway from me without a doubt maybe there is a plan B dmac and I hope so we can kind of through the potential options right there but the fact of the matter is everything that you just said it got noisy and they said we're done you're go to Tennessee we're not you don't want to be here we don't want you here like you said we're talking about a fifth and a sixth round pick swap that's nothing that is nothing and they just basically said you don't want to be here we don't want you here and that is a a crystal clear message to everybody else in that locker room about what you better be careful asking for see and that's why this is a very complicated deal for me because of course trust the Rams I trust sha McVey their Vision I mean you get $3.1 million in cap space what do you do with that I mean do you need a left tackle and bakari still out there do you kind of make a move Shuffle things around to get that we'll see what that entails but just before we even get there are the Rams a better football team today than they were yesterday without Ernest Jones I think the answer unequivocally is capital allies no right no they're not sure you can say that that's a position that isn't invogue in the NFL anymore you can say that Chris Shula is going to use more safeties and less linebackers that's a part of his scheme all that's okay but just because you don't value that position if you're the Rams doesn't mean you give away a player for essentially nothing a bag of have eaten funions in a better parking space just because of that and yes there was drama in the building because he was going to probably have this as a cloud the entire season but let's not act like didn't make it very clear that he was willing to play out the final year of his contract without an extension and he's fully incentivized to go out there and perform to secure a big bag in the offseason and whatever that bag is the do the Rams get a compensation pick from that and bottom line is you would have gotten more value from Ernest Jones as a player if he plays a race of the season and he's the captain he helps Usher this new era of Rams football on that side of the ball and then you part way so it's it's a little puzzling it's perplexing on a lot of ends and hey lot of pressure on on on Spates I mean is he that guy yes first crack at it I I think the first crack is probably gonna go to Christian Rose boom and reader and and and uh you know and then maybe Spates after that you you Jake hmel had the Green Dot during preseason Jake hmel is is an option too but look I I think that on paper the idea of hey I want out no play here for one more year and then you can leave and we'll get the compensatory pick and all that stuff that that makes sense on paper but clearly the Rams felt that that didn't make sense for them whether that's just to send a message which maybe is part of it or maybe they felt that they would not get the performance out of the player that they needed to get that having him out of the building would be better than him in the building unhappy playing at a level that maybe they would be dissatisfied with um I I think that's a huge part it I let me just throw this out there I was talking with some folks today and when I brought it up everybody kind of went huh that's kind of interesting don't you pick up the phone to Aaron Donald right now don't don't don't don't you look and maybe it's nothing maybe it's no man I'm retired lose my number don't call me back but is this not exactly the scenario where you know you break glass in case of emergency we need a a Green Dot guy we need a leader on this defense because you look around and who the defensive leader is right now I don't know is it Jared verse is it Braden Fisk rookies is it bra is it a guy like Kobe Turner who's in his second year Byron I mean there really isn't anybody that jumps off at you maybe Aaron Donald doesn't have to play 60 snaps a Sunday maybe it's a third of that maybe it's play on third down maybe it's set the tone in the locker room and all these sorts of things but you know what whatever Plan B is for me at least it would it would include a phone call to Aaron Donald and say hey I saw you beat Shady McCoy in that race why yeah ass you know he still looks amazing so I uh I would certainly start there I think the answer would probably be no I'm just I'm totally guessing right here but that's the first thing I would do to try to fix this absolutely I mean if this somehow Some Way Sparks something in Aaron Donald where he says I have to save my beloved Los Angeles Rams because they need my Fearless leadership my production then yeah absolutely ad if you're watching this put those cleats on get that helmet ready and let's ride but having said that if you're Aaron Donal on the same token don't you wonder about what this says about how Allin this team is for the 2024 Rams when you have a limited window with Matthew Stafford and you are essentially giving away the most experienced player that as far as where he's at and what he can do for this team I mean I think that that would probably lead you to say do I have to come back and do all the work on the group project but everyone's gonna get an a right I mean I've done that for years does he want to put that on his shoulders again I'm not so sure and it makes you wonder too Ernest Jones Aaron Donald close relationship he makes you wonder how he feels about that so hey look trust me anything to get ad back absolutely 100% but just kind of rewinding here Travis and we talked about it in these episodes about Ernest Jones why was he not going to be in the picture well one the Rams just do not pay linebackers that's not just what they do but also it's not just that right if he was fully healthy and the knee was an issue I think that he's still a ram today I truly believe that 100% the I think that's possible I I think I think that you know the knee injury could certainly have a big part of this I think you're probably right there but I I think the the the piece of the puzzle that we don't know yet and I'm sure it'll come out because you know everybody's gonna spin their side of the story whether just directly or through leaks or anything else but we don't know what Ernest Jones was asking for you know maybe he was asking for something that was totally out of line maybe he was asking for something that's just a complete nonstarter you know it's one thing if you know the team is offering X the player wants Y and there's a middle ground to be found right there but if the the the the team is offering you know C and the player's asking for X there's a lot of ground I we're not getting anywhere you know we're not going to get to that middle ground and maybe they decided that that just was a number that they could never get to plus like we talked about the fact that they don't do messy plus the fact that that's a position that perhaps they don't particularly Value Plus the fact that maybe they think they've got some some dudes some dogs in verse and Fisk and young and and Turner in these guys and they felt like they can have a defense that maybe doesn't have to have that experience um he's not great in coverage maybe they feel like they got some guys that might be able to do a little bit better in that regard but uh I I was really surprised that it came to this because to your point Doug like just straight up are they better today than they were yesterday the answer is no I think what happens next is is the you know we're talking about this a week from now we're getting ready to go against the Lions are they better than they were before the trade I think that's a question that we need to ask but uh it it was a big surprise but I like I said at the beginning coming all the way back to full full circle they don't do this man if if you are noisy you get shown the door I mean Todd Gurley Jared Goff just right on and and Goff really wasn't even noisy Goff just didn't play particularly well for a period of time but if you dig your heels in with this stuff bye they're they're they're just not playing around with that yeah there's no out about and as far as the contract goes I do think that they were looking top five to 10 as far as the market and yeah traine Edmond he got 72 million from the Bears and you're talking about a Jones who essentially a top seven eight nine linebacker the best blitzing linebacker in the sport but the reason I bring up the knees is not just the long-term investment I don't think there's a world even if you had healthy knees that they would make a big time Top ofth Market deal towards him but I think this year specifically the knee issues in the offseason he dealt with him also last season also in OTAs then few weeks ago he's out for practice for a couple of days and sha MCV told the media it was for the same thing and during that time when he wasn't on the field you had Omar Spates you had guys stepping up and them saying Oh wait a second he can do that he can perform just fine plus the safeties plus cr's defense they're like is it going to be that big of a loss to we'll find out right we we will find out pretty quickly because look may maybe SP or you know I I think we kind of know what you have in Rose boom you know what you have in hmel you know what you have in reer you you know what you have in those guys For Better or For Worse at least you can kind of you can game plan with what you can expect from those guys they've been around enough the Spates part of this is interesting if they've seen enough in practice we saw him kind of Popp in preseason and I I know it's preseason so I'm not putting a ton of stock in it but he did look pretty good in the time that that we saw him maybe Chris schula maybe sea mcf and look this guy's r i we found our guy we got I don't want to say lucky because they they they signed him as an undrafted free agent but they found the guy that may be able to slide in it's a fraction of the cost it's not noisy it's not messy and we've seen it happen before maybe not with an undrafted player but I'll go back to John Johnson several years ago where he was kind of a mid- round pick and the next thing you know you turn around in week five6 he's starting in at safety maybe they're just kind of jump starting this whole process with somebody like Spates I think think they'll they'll start with rose boom but I would not be surprised to see Spates get a lot of opportunities here in the early part unless going back to your original point they have something up their sleeve that uh we'll find out in the next few days yeah that's a great point you accelerate his development by giving Spates first team reps and if you're looking at this likey wow you have you you we got to undrafted free agent on a rookie tenure and let's hit the ground running let's FasTrack the process of having him step into that role and perform the way he does and you look at that and you hope for the best but still it's still unrealistic to think that he's going to perform like Ernest Jones did last season and provide that leadership in those intangibles it just doesn't happen that often I mean for me if I'm looking at that way I'm saying you know what I rather give up Rose boom give space those opportunities and if he shines in those opportunities then you're not as hesitant to say you know what Jones the knees not the same this year give him those shots let him go and see if he can perform in there when he gets those chances and then run with it but it just it just man this is a tough one like I said I think I'm I'm not going to be lot Rams Fans are this is the most upset I've seen Rams Fans since it was St Louis Rams Fans they left for La I mean they're upset yeah I get it I get it I I'm not saying they shouldn't be I I can I can understand why they would be upset right here and look here's the reality of it dmac if this team is let's just say let's just pick a nice round number like eight games you know roughly half of the season if this team's three and five or something like that and the reason they're three and five is because they're losing games because their defense can't stop anybody this is a question that they're going to have to answer this this is the the first time I think in a while that they're kind of sticking their neck out a little bit for some criticism because if it doesn't work this is an easy one to point to and say hey what were you guys doing why not just give the guy his money why not just do what you suggested which is hey let him play out the the remainder of his contract and then if he leaves at the end of the year he leaves at the end of the year because this is this is not complicated to see that if this doesn't work and the Rams struggle because of it they're going to take a bunch of heat now they've gotten a lot more of these things right than they've gotten wrong but it's not like you never get them wrong sometimes you're going to but this is this is a very big swing it's a big surprise but clearly the Rams hate noise drama distraction they just simply don't do it yeah that's the end of the day that's what was I think the biggest Factor here and it kind of leads me to believe okay I mean how emotional were you in this decision I mean I do think that you look at Ernest Jones in the tweet that he tweeted and then he deleted it that got messy so I don't think the agent from a tactical standpoint did what he should have done if he wanted to keep him on the Rams and Shan McVey he told reporters today that it was a football decision what we feel was best for the football team amazing guy he was great for us for a few years but we felt that this was best for our football team you guys are all shocked but we feel really good about our football team so either he's playing 40 chess and we're all playing checkers or we're going to look back at this defense struggles all season long and it looks like they lack veteran leadership and production from that spot hey this could be the something we point to for why the Rams didn't have the season we all thought they were gonna have look I I I've said it once I've said it a million times the every dayers know it I in Sean McVey I trust but I have a really hard time buying that one I I have a really hard time in that one that that that you know we like what we have we like the guy just this is a football okay okay I'm sorry I I I'm not buying that one quite yet may maybe this is another example where the end of the year we're saying boy we thought he was smart to begin with we thought they were ahead of the curb to begin with they were even further ahead than we thought that Ernest Jones thing worked out exactly how they thought it was maybe we're talking about Spates or some other player being you know the Lynch pin to a high level defense it's certainly possible but I I'm going to wait to be proven wrong on that one I they I go back to what you said at the beginning are they a better team today than they were yesterday with Ernest Jones and Tennessee they're not exactly it's a lot of pressure on space as well and the rest that that linebacker core and yeah it's a position that's not going to love it in the past but yeah we'll talk more about this one on tomorrow's show lot to unpack with this one we'll see what happens we'll see what happens we'll see what they do I mean 3 million is not a ton of money to work with but I think that we'll see what they do in the next couple of days and what that means call call AD but hey we got we uh we need a little leadership in this side of the room what are you what are you thinking you good you ready I'd pick up the phone man if if if ad came back i' would forget everything I ever knew about Ernest Jones I would remember the name the guy would Etch A Sketch my brain I mean he would make me forget him in absolute heartbeat so yeah something like that were to happen you make some additions but uh yeah this organization you have equity I mean you have a Super Bowl you've been successful pretty much every single season recently but I see people out there saying settle for less and what he here's the thing before we wrap this up and we're going to wrap this up right now is I'm not really upset about what they got in return for him I mean to be honest like that's just what he was worth sure ideally you could have done without the pick swap but he was worth a fifth round pick you weren't gonna get a third round pick for Ernest Jones right that was never going to happen one two never we're GNA sign him long term but I do think that you really gave away a very useful piece to a defense that has a lot of question marks and there's going to be a black hole until someone proves otherwise so let's prove they can sub St and play that position let's see how Chris Shula's defense looks but right now hey the Rams did what they did and they're going to have to be answering this question for a while until it proves to be the right decision it's big it's a big swing it's a big swing and look we we we always overreact to week one in the NFL anyway just because it's fun to overreact to week one in the NFL they give up a truckload of points okay it's on it's on if Omar Spates miss the tackle or R The Tackle I'm going to be like Leonardo Caprio meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood where he's pointing at that's GNA every time with the like I'm gonna absolutely live it every time happens they don't Blitz properly but hey lots of news happening ramsland and stay tuned tomorrow we're going to break down the 53 man roster we got our big big takeaways but that's do it for this emergency episode of lock on Rams my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on xit Instagram at d _ LA and you can follow the people's champ Mr Travis Rogers Travis Rogers until next time whose house it's locked on Rams house