Bear Digest

Grading the Chicago Bears' trade for Rams offensive lineman Jonah Jackson

The Chicago Bears made their first big move of the 2025 NFL offseason, agreeing to terms on a trade for Los Angeles Rams guard Jonah Jackson. Here's our grade for the deal.

Bryan Perez

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The Chicago Bears made their first big move of the 2025 NFL offseason, agreeing to terms on a trade with the Los Angeles Rams for guard Jonah Jackson.

The Bears will send the Rams a sixth round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft for Jackson, who entered the NFL as a third-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2020.

Jackson signed a three-year, $51 million deal with the Rams last March and began last season as their starting center before fracturing his scapula in Week 2.

Jackson played a total of 286 snaps in 2024 and split time between center (107 snaps) and left guard (93 snaps). He even lined up at right guard in Week 18, logging 66 snaps there.

It's that kind of positional versatility that makes this trade a massive home run for Chicago, whose offensive line is searching for three new starters along the interior. Jackson can realistically start at either guard spot or at center, giving GM Ryan Poles massive flexibility in free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft.

The biggest concern with Jonah Jackson is his injury history. He landed on injured reserve in 2024 because of that scapula injury. In 2023, he missed three games with a high ankle sprain and two others with a wrist injury. A torn meniscus forced him to miss Detroit's playoff game, too.

The Bears don't seem concerned. In fact, they're so confident in Jackson's upside that they're taking on his entire 2024 salary and the remainder of his contract, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Chicago Bears needed a move like this in the worst way; a plug-and-play starter with positional versatility who represents an upgrade over the interior linemen they started in 2024. Sure, an argument could be made that Teven Jenkins' upside is higher than Jackson's, but I'm not sure I agree.

And let's not forget Jackson's familiarity with coach Ben Johnson. He was a starter for Johnson's offense in Detroit for two seasons, so there's no doubt the Bears' head coach signed off on this trade. And if he feels confident in Jackson's ability to upgrade Chicago's offensive line, so should you.

Overall, this trade warrants a solid B grade. The Bears never would've landed an interior lineman as talented as Jackson in the sixth round of this year's NFL Draft. Combined with his positional versatility and familiarity with Ben Johnson, Chicago has a instant-impact starter who represents the first step in an overall offensive line overhaul.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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