The Chicago Bears are trading a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for Pro Bowl guard Jonah Jackson, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday. Schefter credited ESPN’s Bears beat writer Courtney Cronin with the news.
Jackson, who turned 28 in February, signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Rams in March of 2024. Due to a fractured scapula in Week 2, he missed a majority of the 2024 season, allowing rookie Beaux Limmer to slide into the starting lineup at center as Steve Avila kicked back out to guard.
Upon Jackson’s return from injury in November, he was inserted as the Rams’ starting center, a position he had only taken 24 NFL reps at prior to 2024. After one game, he ended up getting benched in favor of Limmer. Jackson did play one more game as a starting right guard, though, where he graded at 91.8 in his PFF grade on 66 offensive snaps.
Prior to 2024, Jackson spent the first four seasons of his career in Detroit, where he served as the team’s starting left guard. After the 2021 season — only his second in the NFL — he was named a Pro Bowler.
The move reunites Jackson with Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who was his offensive coordinator on the Lions in 2022 and 2023. It also provides the incoming sixth-year veteran an opportunity to start fresh after a down year in a familiar system.
Per Tankathon, the draft pick going to Los Angeles is projected to be the No. 197 overall pick. This selection originally belonged to the Steelers, but the Bears acquired it after trading Justin Fields to Pittsburgh in the 2024 offseason.
With Jackson in the mix, the Bears add an experienced starting offensive lineman to an interior that likely faces a massive overhaul this offseason. Assuming he slides in as the team’s starting left guard, Chicago will have free agency and the draft as avenues to figure out who will start at center and right guard for them in 2025.