Bear Digest

What Alaric Jackson's new deal says for best Bears draft route

Analysis: The Bears will need to pay tackle Braxton Jones an extension similar or larger than the Rams paid Alaric Jackson and they need to ponder whether the draft provides a better answer.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears offensive tackle Braxton Jones needs an extension after this year but drafting someone for the spot makes more sense.
Bears offensive tackle Braxton Jones needs an extension after this year but drafting someone for the spot makes more sense. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Tackle Alaric Jackson's signing by the Rams to a contract extension should make apparent something to the Bears and GM Ryan Poles about this year's draft.

It only underscores the critical need to find a lineman who can be a starting Bears left tackle for the future with the 10th pick overall, whether it's LSU's Will Campbell or any of two or three others including Texas' Kelvin Banks and Missouri's Armand Membou.

The rookie might be left guard for a year, as Braxton Jones enters the final year of a deal in 2025. However, after this season the Bears would be paying Jones a contract something like or even better than that of Jackson's when they could be keeping their salary cap space for more important future purposes.

Jackson, himself, was not a player who would have interested the Bears a free agent because he's no better overall than Jones. In fact, analytics say he's not as good. That only makes the cost of what the Bears should face at left tackle for Jones loom even larger.

Pro Football Focus had Jackson graded only three slots higher among tackles than Jones, in 18th overall, and not as good as Jones as a pass blocker. Jackson hasn't consistently been graded a top tackle performer according to PFF the way Jones has, and this past season was a "breakout" in Year 4, according to PFF blocking grade for Jackson.

Jones also was also ranked fourth among tackles in the league at run-block win rate for 2024 according to ESPN's analytics while Jackson wasn't in the top 10.

Neither Jackson nor Jones ranked in the top 20 for ESPN for pass-block win rate last year among tackles. Both are limited players and their lack of draft pedigree says this.

Yet Jackson, who was an undrafted free agent, received a contract paying $57 million for three years. So Jones' deal would likely be larger another year down the road as a fifth-round draft pick who has been better, or at least equal to Jackson over his three seasons.

The Bears actually might have a better replacement in the future at left tackle in Kiran Amegadjie, who hasn't really been given a fair chance because he missed all off-season work and training camp as a rookie due to injury.

They could find that a player with 36-inch arms can be a bigger asset if he actually knows what's expected of him going forward.

Either way, drafting a player this year who can eventually be starting left tackle or who can be a guard first and then a tackle is the best route because it pushes that big tackle contract extension off into the future another four years.

They may have already decided to move on from Jones with a trade, but that's something they'd wait for because he's on the comeback trail from a broken ankle.

Eventually the big contract extension for the Bears on offense will be for quarterback Caleb Williams if all works out as expected, and that will be a real expense.

It only makes cents—and dollars—to have a contract for the starting left tackle be on the lower end for cap cost when that happens.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.