All of the chatter has been about Matthew Stafford, and rightfully so, but there is another Los Angeles Rams player who was a key piece to the offense.
Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson is coming off of his best season and was set to hit free agency. The Rams had to decide to re-sign him, look to add another free agent, or look to replace him with a rookie in the NFL Draft.
Left tackles do not typically come cheap, so you have to think that was some of the thinking behind their unwillingness to push Stafford’s contract over $50 million. They needed money to be able to re-sign the man blocking his blindside.
Just hours after coming to terms with Stafford, Les Snead and Co. have officially struck a deal with Jackson. The deal is 3 years for $57 million with $35 million guaranteed. That nets out to $19 million per year.
Los Angeles Rams Re-Sign Alaric Jackson To 3-Year Deal
Jackson is one of those NFL stories that make sports so great. He went undrafted in 2021 and joined the Los Angeles Rams as a UDFA. He made the initial 53-man roster and played the role of depth piece.
In 2022, after playing four games at right guard and two games at left tackle, his season came to an abrupt end when he was diagnosed with blood clots. He battled through it and entered 2023 as the unquestioned starting left tackle.
Now, he is set to make $57 million.
This contract makes Jackson the 9th-highest paid left tackle in the NFL in average yearly salary, per Over The Cap. He is just below Taylor Decker of the Detroit Lions and just above Jake Matthews of the Atlanta Falcons.
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After an up-and-down 2023 campaign, Jackson demonstrated great improvement in 2024. Per PFF, he only allowed 25 total pressures and 3 sacks for the entire season.
In a matter of hours, the Rams were able to lock down their QB and LT for the foreseeable future. Let’s hope they can do the same for the linebacker position now. The tampering period of free agency begins on March 12.