Former Seahawk who sacked Sam Darnold taunts old team on social media

Sofia Schwarzwalder, The Seattle Times on Sep 11, 2026

Published in Football

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SEATTLE — The injury bug bit Sam Darnold just five plays into the season opener against the Patriots on Wednesday night. The quarterback was injured after landing awkwardly on a sack by former Seahawk and current New England linebacker Dre'Mont Jones.

Darnold was transferred to Harborview that night. The most recent report says that he is expected to miss some time.

Less than 24 hours after the Patriots lost 13-10, Jones, who was released by the Seahawks in 2025, posted a photo of the sack on Instagram. He also tagged a user called (expletive)_the_seahawks" near Darnold's head, which shows up when users tap on the photo in the app.

The three-slide Instagram post included a clip of the sack, which happened as Darnold was trying to step up in the pocket on the fifth play of the game.

"Year 8," the caption of Jones' post read. "First NFL sack of the season. Gotta win the close ones but we will next time #gopats."

Jones' post sparked plenty of discussion, and some jeering, from Seahawks fans on social media.

Jones, regarded as one of the top free-agent pass rushers available in the 2023 free agent class, signed a three-year, $51.53 million contract in March of that year with $30 million in guaranteed. That was the most the Seahawks had paid an external free agent at the time.

Things didn't work out between the Seahawks and Jones as the team tried to beef up a defense that ranked 25th in the NFL the previous season.

Jones saw his playing time decrease in 2024 when Mike Macdonald took over for Pete Carroll, with his snaps going down in the second half of the season as the Seahawks went 6-2.

He was released by the organization in March of 2025 before their Super Bowl winning season in a salary-cap move.

Jones, 29, had just 8.5 sacks and 12 tackles for a loss in two seasons with the Seahawks.

The linebacker had brief stints with the Titans and the Ravens before signing a three-year, $39.5 million contract with the Patriots in March 2026.

One commenter criticized Jones for posting a clip of someone getting injured. He responded: "I'm I just trying to post a highlight. I hope Sam gets better he's a great QB.

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Seahawks reporter Bob Condotta contributed to this report.