Between Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp, the Los Angeles Rams have dominated the offseason headlines. Today is no different, as they have found a trade partner for Jonah Jackson.
Per Adam Schefter and Courtney Cronin, the Los Angeles Rams will send Jackson to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick. The trade cannot be officially processed until the new league year begins on March 12.
Los Angeles Rams Trade Jonah Jackson To Chicago Bears
Unfortunately, Jackson will go down as one of the worst free-agent signings in recent memory, and not all of it at the fault of his own.
After signing him last offseason to a 3-year, $51 million deal ($25.5 million of which was guaranteed at signing), the Los Angeles Rams made the decision that they would move Steve Avila to center so that Jackson could play his natural position of left guard.
Avila was coming off of a promising rookie campaign at left guard, so the move was a bit perplexing, but he did have some experience at center in college, so the thought was to put the best starting 5 on the line, regardless of position.
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Then, in a stunning change of events, near the end of training camp, the Rams made a switch and moved Jackson to center and Avila back to left guard. This felt doomed to fail from the jump.
Jackson also got injured in training camp and missed all of the preseason (he wouldn’t have played, regardless). He came back for the Week 1 opener against the Lions but was injured in that game and, ultimately, was put on injured reserve. He would return from IR later in the season but could not get back on the field as Avila retained the starting spot at guard, and rookie Beaux Limmer seized the starting center role.
Jackson was set to make $17.5 million this season, and the Bears will take on the full amount, leaving the Rams off the hook and with a lot more cap space to play with.
Jackson had a lot of success in Detroit with Ben Johnson as his offensive coordinator. Johnson is now the head coach of the Bears, so he hopes to get Jackson back to his old form. The Bears had one of the worst offensive lines in football last year, so adding Jackson could give a boost to protecting star quarterback Caleb Williams.