Everybody knew the Chicago Bears would come out swinging to rebuild their offensive line this off-season. It appears GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson weren’t content to wait for free agency. The team officially swung a trade with the Los Angeles Rams for veteran guard Jonah Jackson. The 26-year-old made the Pro Bowl in 2021 while Johnson was passing game coordinator and went on to play two more seasons during his offensive coordinator run. The two know each other well. Unfortunately, Jackson struggled with health setbacks over the past couple of years, leading to the Rams’ decision to ship him out.
People wonder what happened in L.A. It came down to a few key factors. Jackson was injured in week two of the season due to a lingering shoulder injury and landed on IR. During his absence, Beaux Limmer stepped into the starting lineup and played well. When Jackson returned, the Rams tried shifting him to right guard and center, but his discomfort was obvious. He’d played his entire career at left guard. Eventually, he was benched for the stretch run of the season, though to his credit, he never raised a stink.
The Chicago Bears did what was necessary.
Jackson is not what you’d call an ideal solution. Though still young and likely to play his natural left guard spot, his health issues make it uncertain what the Chicago Bears will get. They’re trusting Coach Johnson’s familiarity with him. More than anything, this move was to circumvent the need to rely solely on free agency for veteran help. Now, Poles can focus their efforts on a singular name they covet without having to spread their resources out. Drew Dalman feels like the obvious name to watch, considering he’s the best center available. If the Bears land him, they could go into the draft only having to fill the right guard spot unless they’re dead set on finding a new left tackle.
Either way, the mixture of familiarity and past success makes this a worthwhile gamble for the Bears. In the worst case, they can release him next year with $17 million in space.
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This is nothing more than the move they could make right now. FA is not open yet and there are no guarantees. Jackson has potential.and probably agreed to a pay cut with incentives if he starts x many games. Look for a couple more moves like this to add bodies who can compete to be starters/swing guys. You can sit on your hands or start bringing guys in. The FA trough is shallow and lots of teams are lined up to eat there.
This is taking shape financially. Jackson’s hit vs CAP is allegedly $8.5 and also allegedly, he was open to restructure at the time he was given permission to seek trade They also added $3mil to the cap by releasing Sandbourne. NFL cap space is like wet clay. Very easy to manipulate so I don’t see this in any way keeping them from doing the other things they need.
@Sam — You beat the hell out of me — to the punch — and you still got it 100% right. The only things you left out, were: ▪︎. the missed games and injury history of Jonah Jackson (you did mention the benching) ▪︎. this has to be Ryan Poles’ final left-handed swipe at both, Teven Jenkins and Larry Bogom (two of the Ryan Pace guys, still on the roster), and, ▪︎. HC Ben (and possibly, even AGM Ian Cunningham) ultimately will be blamed, for this stupid mess — that has GM Ryan Poles’ clown-ass fingerprints all over it. But… Read more »
There is no way Johnson didn’t say go get this guy. He was a Pro Bowl player in 21 at a young age. Talent is there regardless of the benching last year. Health is the concern, but that is a risk with every single player draft pick or vet. Remember Gabe Carimi? No guarantees. Play him at his natural position of LG and see what you get. Better than signing a FA to a 3 year deal and have it work out like Davis. For all you fans that want to rail on Poles, Sneed, a pretty good GM, signed… Read more »
The OL cost the Chiefs the SB. I would say that was a worse job knowing Mahomes drives that O.