Bears trade for probowl LG

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Bears making a trade with Rams for LG Jonah Jackson

One of the better pulling guards if he can stay healthy.

A 2025 6th round pick is it.  This helps fill a need and costs a pick that would have been a developmental player at best.

 

[dawhizz]

Not real sold on this move. I guess it’s low risk since his second year is not guaranteed, but I’m getting Ryan Bates/Nate Davis vibes. 

[Stinger226]

Actually they had him playing center for awhile in LA. Anyone know how well he did?

[Stinger226]

6 minutes ago, dawhizz said:

Not real sold on this move. I guess it’s low risk since his second year is not guaranteed, but I’m getting Ryan Bates/Nate Davis vibes. 

The difference is Jackson played well enough to make an all pro pick. They obviously have information on his health or they wouldn't be doing this. I wonder if he will be the LG or play center.

[dawhizz]

14 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

The difference is Jackson played well enough to make an all pro pick. They obviously have information on his health or they wouldn't be doing this. I wonder if he will be the LG or play center.

I assume it depends on how FA shakes  out but likely LG. He was only healthy for four games for LA so probably not enough to figure out his comfort level at center.

[Stinger226]

6 minutes ago, dawhizz said:

I assume it depends on how FA shakes  out but likely LG. He was only healthy for four games for LA so probably not enough to figure out his comfort level at center.

During season 22 and 23 he missed 2 games and 3 games respectfully. Only gave up 2 sacks in those 2 years. Last year only played in 4 with a shoulder injury.  Never read about having surgery or not.  They cut Bates and save 4 mil, so Jackson has a net cost of 5 mil for one season. Low cost, high upside. Very curious at what position? I guess this is insurance if they can't sign Dalman or target him to play LG?

[dawhizz]

6 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

During season 22 and 23 he missed 2 games and 3 games respectfully. Only gave up 2 sacks in those 2 years. Last year only played in 4 with a shoulder injury.  Never read about having surgery or not.  They cut Bates and save 4 mil, so Jackson has a net cost of 5 mil for one season. Low cost, high upside. Very curious at what position? I guess this is insurance if they can't sign Dalman or target him to play LG?

I just don’t love the trend. Lions drafted him and elected not to resign him. Rams signed him to a big deal but gave up on him after one year. Found this review of his last year in Detroit and it paints a pretty mixed review. I’m not a PFF devotee, but PFF numbers in the 60-61 range aren’t that great. 
 

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2024/2/20/24075604/2024-detroit-lions-free-agent-profile-jonah-jackson-left-guard-nfl-re-sign-difficult-decision

[Stinger226]

12 minutes ago, dawhizz said:

I just don’t love the trend. Lions drafted him and elected not to resign him. Rams signed him to a big deal but gave up on him after one year. Found this review of his last year in Detroit and it paints a pretty mixed review. I’m not a PFF devotee, but PFF numbers in the 60-61 range aren’t that great. 
 

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2024/2/20/24075604/2024-detroit-lions-free-agent-profile-jonah-jackson-left-guard-nfl-re-sign-difficult-decision

That pretty well sums it up, they didn't want to pay him with Sewell and Ragnow contracts coming.  Injuries came into play. 

At worst he's a competent backup that can play LG or C . For a net cost of 5 mil. I think it's an insurance policy but Poles hasn't succeeded well taking risks IE, Bates and Davis.

[BearFan PHX]

So I think theres an aspect to this that we may be overlooking in understanding this trade.

Certainly, he is a player, and he will compete for a position on our team, and will either start or be a backup. That's obvious. But in trying to imagine Poles' projection of where he will end up, we should consider something I brought up a few weeks ago.

Every year before the draft, we sign free agents (and make trades) to fill holes. It's necessary at this time of year to have someone, even if they're not going to be the eventual starter, plugged into every roster hole before the draft or else you can get stuck reaching for players to fill holes. Having these kind of players, with grades that are decent but not slam dunk starters not only builds depth, but allows you to go BPA in the draft and avoid reaching for lesser players too high when big names go earlier than you planned.

We are surely going to continue to address the interior of the OL, both in free agency and the draft, and unless things go poorly, Jackson will likely have to compete for his position at least. But if we didnt have him, and the draft falls in bad ways for us, we'd be forced to take someone who wasnt that good too early just so that we didnt have a glaring hole on the OL going into the season. Now, with this trade, that particular scenario is avoided.

Dont get me wrong, Jackson may well start for us, but this is the time of year where we sign guys who may end up to be backups for us too. And of course the plan isnt to start by building depth. Starters are the more pressing need, but the guys we get right now like this are insurance before the draft that keeps us flexible.

I hope Jackson shows up and plays lights out and takes a starting spot, but thats no guarantee, and it's not the only or main intention behind this move.

So every year when this happens, we think about them in terms of starters, and how the roster looks, when instead they really are insurance moves. Once theyre on the roster, they can compete of course, but if they dont succeed it doesnt mean Poles whiffed. It means we are freer in the draft.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Former Lion and still young. Johnson knows him and this allows you to have at least one spot filled. Don’t like trading but this is significantly better than the Bates move. Don’t trade picks for depth players - if you trade, get a starter and someone you expect to start for a while. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I’m thinking they go with a free agent center and Stanley at LT. 

[OmahaBear]

Probably could have found someone better in the 6th round.. 

[BearFan PHX]

Guys, every year before the draft we do this. We sign free agents or trade low picks for players. Im not talking about the big signings, Im talking about the lesser ones like this. And every year we judge them based on whether the player becomes a plus starter.

But thats not what this move is about. Its about making sure you dont have glaring holes going into the draft. We've done this every year for decades through all kinds of GMs. And I think we mistakenly judge them all as if they were major acquisitions, and misunderstand the value of this isnt necessarily int he player they will be, but in not having to spend high draft picks on reach players in order to fill holes.

So this deal doesnt just cost us a 6th rounder, it protects our first 3 rounds. If the right guard is there, we will still draft him, but if they get snatched up before we get to our pick, we wont have to take a lesser guy with a pick thats more valuable. Instead we maximize our draft picks with BPA.

So this is about protecting draft capital as much as anything.

Think of it as draft insurance, adding depth, and creating competition which may or may not result in Johnson actually being an impact starter, but still gets us to a place where we draft value across our roster.

[Mongo3451]

I hate this on every level.  Same ol shit...

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Since NIL, the draft is not as deep as before.  Poles will spend 6, or 7th rounders to bring in guys that can start rather than draft someone that will be practice squad most likely. 

In last years draft 16 players in the 6th round played 10 or more games and 10 players in 7th round played 10 or more games.  They traded for a guy who can start all 17 if he can stay healthy. If he doesn't work out, they don't owe him anything in 2026 if they cut him.

[Stinger226]

3 hours ago, OmahaBear said:

Probably could have found someone better in the 6th round.. 

Only 2% of 6 round drafted players become NFL starters.

[Stinger226]

They clearly are bringing him in to start but will add draft picks to compete. Doubling down on positions so their not stuck if it fails. People complain because he was injured last year. Dalman only played 5 games last year. Will Fries only played 8 games last year. Most options in free agency are not perfect additions. 

Davis came in with no injury history and look how that turned out. Ben Johnson had influence on this addition, if wasn't just a Poles decision. So I have a little more faith in the move.

I have heard it 2 ways,his salary is 9 mil and has an 8.5 mil bonus addition. Does LA have to eat that? Or is that come to us?  OTC has his salary this year as 11.8 mil and next so apparently LA has to eat some of the bonus money. When teams trade players they always have dead money, I assume this is accurate on OTC.

Also Greg Gabriel doesn't like the move. He knows a coach in LA and said when Jackson came in to LA ,his work ethic dropped off and that's why his play wasn't as good. 

Now does he get a fresh start here? Did Johnson talk to him before the trade? Don't know if any of that is allowed.

[Stinger226]

42 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Since NIL, the draft is not as deep as before.  Poles will spend 6, or 7th rounders to bring in guys that can start rather than draft someone that will be practice squad most likely. 

In last years draft 16 players in the 6th round played 10 or more games and 10 players in 7th round played 10 or more games.  They traded for a guy who can start all 17 if he can stay healthy. If he doesn't work out, they don't owe him anything in 2026 if they cut him.

Rarely do you find starters that low in the draft. People like Elijah Hicks, a ST player who can come in and start some games as a backup. 

I have read where Johan Jackson has only given up 5 sacks in his career.  None last year on limited snaps. The previous 2 yrs was only 2 sacks on 1600 combined snaps. 

I have just heard his injuries over his past and it's a bunch of different nagging injuries, broken finger, concussion, ankle. Kinda sounds like Jenkins history to me.  He has no clear knee or back  issues so at least they're minor.

[AZ54]

I feel like this opens the door for us to draft Josh Simmons.  

[BearFan PHX]

12 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I feel like this opens the door for us to draft Josh Simmons.  

exactly, and also to give us some flexibility in the 3rd round etc.

Everyone is measuring him like Johnson is a main starting piece, but i really don't think that's the deal here. He will compete for that, but he is also insurance for a rookie to develop. But I keep repeating myself LOL

[ASHKUM BEAR]

12 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I feel like this opens the door for us to draft Josh Simmons.  

It helps to open all doors.  If they sign Kahlil Mack as rumored, that opens it wider. Zeiter and Dalman and who knows, they can take anyone like Simmons or Jentry.  The DL is deep, they can get good players in round 2 or 3.  

[CrackerDog]

Injury last year being a shoulder doesn’t scare me.  Hopefully they got the all clear on that.  If so, I’m fine with investing a low round pick for a potential starter.  Run game improves a lot with him out there.  

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

It helps to open all doors.  If they sign Kahlil Mack as rumored, that opens it wider. Zeiter and Dalman and who knows, they can take anyone like Simmons or Jentry.  The DL is deep, they can get good players in round 2 or 3.  

Simmons is still recovering from his knee injury but he’s the best OT in this draft.   We could have re signed Tev to a short term deal and had the same result but that would likely have had a higher cap hit.  When Jackson gets injured we have Simmons ready to take his place. A rookie season to learn the ropes at LG then LT next year.  Losing the 6th rd pick is not ideal but we gain about 4 to 5 mil in cap space vs Teven that helps us sign another FA.  I don’t think there were any ideal solutions at LG in FA.  Everyone here seemingly is committed to fixing it via the draft.    We can do that but without the need to rely on it.  Really need to see what we do with that extra money to evaluate this deal.  

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

Simmons is still recovering from his knee injury but he’s the best OT in this draft.   We could have re signed Tev to a short term deal and had the same result but that would likely have had a higher cap hit.  When Jackson gets injured we have Simmons ready to take his place. A rookie season to learn the ropes at LG then LT next year.  Losing the 6th rd pick is not ideal but we gain about 4 to 5 mil in cap space vs Teven that helps us sign another FA.  I don’t think there were any ideal solutions at LG in FA.  Everyone here seemingly is committed to fixing it via the draft.    We can do that but without the need to rely on it.  Really need to see what we do with that extra money to evaluate this deal.  

right. this is the best way to use Johnson. If he wins the starting job, great. If a rookie ascends quickly, even better. if the draft falls poorly and you dont get the guard you wanted, you can go BPA. Johnson doesnt have to be a great long term starter for this trade to be a good idea.

So youre right, its what else happens that defines this deal, not just what Johnson does for us long term.

[BearFan PHX]

Reading more, there are reasons for optimism about Johnson as a good starter too. Plus Ben Johnson knows him, having spent three years with him on the Lions.

If Johnson can stay healthy, he is a top tier player, but if not, it's another Jenkins situation.

Hopefully Johnson excels and dominates. But if he keeps the spot warm until a 2nd or 3rd rounder can beat him out, that's even better. he has a hefty price tag for this year, but we have the cap sapce to take it, and we have outs after this year, so it's not a long term marriage if it doesnt work.

Seems like a good move for Poles, whether he becomes a dominant Pro Bowler, or just fills a hole for this year.