Jonah Jackson was traded to the Bears last week, and the lineman earned an extension along the way. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Jackson got a one-year extension that will keep him in Chicago through the 2027 season.
[RELATED: Rams, Bears Agree To Jonah Jackson Trade]
Besides handing Jackson a contract for the 2027 campaign, Garafolo notes that the Bears also guaranteed more of the player’s 2026 salary. This includes $7MM fully guaranteed and an additional $5.25MM for injury. Jackson is set to earn all of the $17.5MM he was attached to in 2025, part of the three-year, $51MM pact he signed with the Rams last offseason.
Jackson has clearly landed on his feet following a forgettable stop in Los Angeles. There were high hopes for the free agent acquisition, but he quickly landed on IR with a fractured scapula. When he returned, he saw time at both guard and center, but he was eventually benched towards the middle of the season. The Rams quickly looked to move on from the veteran, as the organization granted him permission to seek a trade.
Ben Johnson is more than familiar with the former Lions standout, and the new Bears head coach is showing his faith in the trade acquisition. The team was expected to actively seek reinforcement along the interior of the O-line, and it’s no surprise that the organization landed on a player who’s familiar with Johnson’s offensive approach.
Assuming Jackson returns to his former production, the Bears will be more than happy with their good-faith extension. Jackson started all 57 of his appearances with Detroit, including 2020 and 2021 campaigns where he topped 1,000 offensive snaps. He’s been hit by injuries in each of the past few seasons, but the Bears are clearly hoping he’s past his injury woes.
Why?
Cause its a guy that the new HC is familiar with and the org is taking his advice that will be good on this roster.. ‘In for the penny in for the pound’.
I truly don’t understand this move at all. They must really think he’s going to bounce back in a big way and had little to no risk of injury, which just isn’t the case. His contract was high for someone coming off of major injury. I thought Joe would be extended well before Jonah, or at least your home-grown Kyler….
I wouldn’t call a fractured scapula a major injury. Unless I missed something about the severity of his injury, I don’t see why he would be a higher risk for injury than any other player. He was injured, he recovered–presumably fully by now.
“Hope is not a strategy.”
To a point it very much is a strategy. It’s a strategy often seen across all sports. All acquisitions are. Draft, trades, free agency. The hope falls into the player fitting into a system, coaching staff, continued development, reaching that ceiling, recovery from an injury and sometimes just a change of scenery.
Hope works here or there, you just do not want to have a huge amount of hopes on your team.
Hoping a guy recovered from what seems like a fluke injury is not hoping much, hoping your ENTIRE roster stays healthy because you have no depth, is a different story (not saying this about the Bears, just in general)
Move I would really like to see the Bears make. After this signing the Bears have 16 million dollars left for the Cap. The move I’d love to see the Bears make next. Trade Kmet for a draft pick in this years draft. There are a bunch of TE’s in this draft. One that is even worthy of #10 if Jeanty is gone. With the OL stabilized a bit they can afford to get Johnson who he wants. Resetting the TE position while saving 11 million this year seems like a no brainer. It wasn’t Kmet’s fault he got treated like the invisible man but hey 11 million bucks is 11 million bucks. I’m assuming the Bears will extend Thuney and do a couple more re negotiations but 11 million more can’t hurt when guys become available. It makes too much sense not to happen. At least get back into the 4th round this year. Thoughts?
Ugh, yeah I get the money saved, but I just have memories, or was it nightmares, about the Bears ‘moving on’ from Greg Olson.
It will be up to Johnson though, is Kmet a ‘Laporta’, or does Johnson have someone in mind in the draft (that they think they can get with their picks)?Also Im guessing the Bears maybe get only a 4th rounder for Kmet.
Honestly I think they should keep Kmet, and keep funneling picks into linemen. Do not deviate from that, you have a couple of guys that have to be still viewed as placeholders, but in the end they will need to be replaced and it can take a few seasons for rookie linemen to get up to the speed of the NFL.
I am kind of curious to see what Johnson thinks of Kiran Amegadjie. Is he a guy that they can see moving to the first string (and not just due to injuries on the Oline)?
Kind of a weird move to me, but I’m not the GM.
Not weird at all, lines up with Caleb’s rookie contract. when Caleb gets new deal, most of the O line are FAs. in the meantime their hope is upcoming draft picks are ready to take over on cheaper contracts. Caleb is going to get paid, this makes total sense to line the lineman up as coming off the books at the same time
I just said last night that trading for Jonah – a guy coming off an injury with a high salary who was benched after he got healthy last year – was a suspect move. I’m happy with it if they add a quality depth piece behind him, which should not be a necessity for a OG costing $17.5M or whatever. This extension doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. At least wait to get it done in preseason or after a few games when he proves that the injury is behind him and he’s transitioning well to the move to RG (assuming he’s going there and not Thuney). Oh well, I’m not the GM.