Raiders cornerback Jack Jones eager to play for Pete Carroll

Defender brings swagger that’ll mix well with new head coach’s philosophy in Las Vegas

The Legion of Boom secondary certainly didn’t lack bravado and confidence.

It was that swagger that permeated from the cornerbacks and safeties in Pete Carroll’s Seattle Seahawks defense that gave the team an edge. So much so, the attitude and mentality naturally flowed to the entire defensive unit.

That should bode well for Jack Jones.

The 27-year-old cornerback was a 16-game starter for the Las Vegas Raiders defense in 2024 (17 games played) and paced the team with three interceptions and 16 pass breakups. He also finished fourth in total tackles (69). Jones is one of several Raiders looking to make an impression upon Carroll and the new regime and he’s eager to play for the super veteran head coach. And his swagger and production is going to be a solid match for Carroll’s own philosophy.

“I’m excited for what he’s got coming up for the season. He brings the energy. He doesn’t show his age, he acts young. He brings the excitement, that’s what teams want,” Jones said on an episode of NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football. “I grew up in the (Los Angeles) area, so I always watched (U)SC and UCLA. Playing for Pete Carroll is going to be like, I don’t know, kind of like a dream come true.”

Jack Jones
By The Numbers

• 2024: 17 games (16 starts), 69 total tackles (52 solo), 3 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions (1 touchdown), 16 pass deflections; Advanced Stats (per Pro Football Reference), 86 targets, 54 completions (62.8 completion percentage), 571 yards and 8 touchdowns allowed, 15 missed tackles

Like cornerbacks in Carroll’s storied history as a coach, Jones displays the same loud trash talking nature and football IQ to read and react and take away the football as Richard Sherman.

Of course there’s a staggering difference in size and production between the two cornerbacks. Jones checks in at 5-foot-11 and a svelte 175 pounds while Sherman stands 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds. In his first three season in the NFL (with the Seahawks) Sherman snared 20 interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) to go along with 57 pass deflections, 168 total tackles, a sack, and four forced fumbles. Jones, meanwhile, has seven interceptions (four of them housed for six) with 27 pass deflections, 136 total tackles, seven stops for loss, and a forced fumble.

Jones eagerness to showcase his skills under Carroll coincides with an interesting career crossroad for the cornerback who heads into Year 4 of his career. A fourth-round pick (121st overall) by the New England Patriots back in the 2022 NFL Draft, Jones was waived in the midst of his second season in Foxboro and was scooped up by the Raiders on waivers. In the seven games in Silver & Black during the 2023 campaign, Jones snared two interceptions (both housed for touchdowns) along with 25 total tackles and four pass deflections.

One of Jones’ major proponents, however, is no longer a Raider — former head coach Antonio Pierce who coached the cornerback in high school and college. And Jones is in the final year of his rookie deal, that Las Vegas assumed when claiming him off waivers — $3.325 million cap number in 2025.

Thus, it’s a pivotal year for both player and team as Jones is in a contract season while the Raiders are building a team under Carroll and general manager John Spytek. The cornerback is likely going to be eying long-term job security and pay and that could be with Las Vegas or another NFL team. Over The Cap, for instance, has a valuation of $4.468 million as an annual average salary. And the site denotes Jones is slated to be a restricted free agent after the 2025 season concludes (sans an extension), likely do to him being waived by New England while in the midst of his rookie deal. Spotrac, meanwhile, doesn’t have a market value for Jones (yet) and lists him as an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 205 campaign.

Either way, Jones is slated to get a new deal.

That all said, it’s difficult to discern at the moment if Jones is a roster lock for the Raiders’ upcoming 2025 season with Carroll and Spytek at the helm. The roster and depth chart is far from settled but the scenario that seems best is Jones competing to earn the starting cornerback role he’s held down.

While there’s refinement required to his game — his aggressiveness does net takeaways but getting burned in coverage too; along with a staggering 15 missed tackles charted by Pro Football Reference — Jones has shown to be sticky in coverage and a supreme nuisance to opposing quarterbacks.

That’s something Carroll and his Raiders can’t have enough of.