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Courtney Cronin
Chicago – The review of the offensive line of the Bears began just over a week before the start of the NFL free agency period. The Bears are in the process of sending a sixth round of 2025 to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Jonah Jackson guard, multiple sources told ESPN.
Trade cannot be processed until the beginning of the new year of the League on March 12.
Jackson, 28, has started 61 games in five NFL seasons, which included a Pro Bowl campaign in 2021. He has predominantly played in the left guard since he was recruited by the Detroit Lions, where he played for the new Bears coach, Ben Johnson, for four seasons.
Jackson, who signed a three -year contract and $ 51 million with the Rams in March 2024, is scheduled to win $ 17.5 million in salary during the 2025 season. Chicago is assuming the entire Jackson salary as part of the exchange, a source to Adam Schefter of ESPN told.
A shoulder injury limited Jackson to four games last season, where he took snapshots to the left guard, the center and the right guard. Most of the training camp was lost after the injury at the end of July and returned for the beginning of the regular season before aggravating his shoulder in week 2 and landing in the injured reserve. Jackson played in a game after returning to go and then was Banca.
At his season end of the season, the Rams chief coach Sean McVay said he really appreciated how professionally Jackson handled his 2024 season in Los Angeles.
“I really appreciate Jonah for how he handled [the situation]”McVay said in January.” An initial level player … There are many teams that they would love to have Jonah Jackson on guard. … He put the team first in terms of just appearing, going to work and being a very good ‘exploration equipment’.
The Chicago offensive line is an important focus area in this low season with three main headlines, the left guard Teven Jenkins, the Coleman Shelton center and the Matt Pryor right guard, ready to reach free agency. The Caleb Williams country marshal received a maximum of the League 68 times during its rookie season, which has caused an impulse for the Bears to address multiple needs in advance.
Last week at the NFL Combine, Johnson addressed the possibility that the Bears could turn the entire interior of the offensive line in a low season.
“Yes, I think it has been done before, right?” Johnson said. “I mean, there are a number of teams that did it last year. The Panthers come to mind when they went out to free agency and obtained a couple of main guards, they really changed the dynamics of their offensive. You saw that they click there in the second half of the season once they really started gel. Five boys to be working on the same page.”
Jackson received permission to find an exchange last week, confirmed a source to ESPN. Before joining the RAMS the last low season, Jackson registered 57 Detroit openings of 2020-23.
Sarah Barshop from ESPN contributed to this story.
