The Seahawks re-signed cornerback Sidney Jones IV on Thursday, bringing back an important piece of their secondary from last season.

Jones, a 2017 sixth-round pick of the University of Washington, is coming off of the best season of his NFL career in what was his first year with Seattle.

"It's Seattle man, I went to school here, it's always had a special place in my heart," Jones said after signing his contract. "Last year, I felt like this was a place where I was starting to develop myself, starting to get a true feel for my game and starting to get comfortable. That's very important in terms of my career, so it just felt like the right move, the right fit. They're excited to have me back, I'm excited to be back. The feeling is mutual."

Selected by the Eagles in 2017, Jones missed most of his rookie season due to an Achilles injury suffered in his UW pro day workout, then over the next two seasons he appeared in 21 games for the Eagles, starting eight. After being waived as part of roster cuts in 2020, Jones joined the Jaguars and appeared in nine games with six starts.

The Seahawks traded for Jones just before the start of the 2021 season, sending a sixth-round pick to the Jaguars, and after the Seahawks shuffled things at cornerback early in the season, Jones took over the starting job at left cornerback. For a while Jones split time there with rookie Tre Brown, but a knee injury ended Brown's season, paving the way for Jones to hold the starting job the rest of the year.

In 16 games, 11 of them starts, Jones recorded 10 passes defensed, tied with D.J. Reed for the team lead, and also had 66 tackles, one for a loss. Keeping Jones became even more significant this week with Reed agreeing to terms on a deal with the New York Jets leaving Jones and Brown as the leading candidates for starting spots depending on what else happens this offseason.

Jones will be a part of a defense that figures to look a bit differently, schematically speaking, following changes on the coaching staff that included promoting Clint Hurtt to defensive coordinator and adding Sean Desai as associate head coach-defense, and Karl Scott as the defensive passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach.

"I'm super excited," Jones said. "It's going to be improved by… I don't even know how much. But it's going to be amazing. I've talked to the guys already, they have great confidence (in the defense), they have great confidence in me. It's going to be a really good fit."