The Chicago Bears made their first significant roster acquisition of the 2025 NFL offseason Tuesday when they agreed to trade a 2025 sixth-round pick for Los Angeles Rams left guard Jonah Jackson, but not everyone loved the deal.
Following news of the trade, former Bears scouting director Greg Gabriel took to social media to express his discontent with the team’s decision to trade for Jackson, citing his poor season with the Rams in 2024 and describing him as a “huge disappointment.”
“Not a fan of [the] Jonah Jackson move,” Gabriel wrote Tuesday on X. “He was a huge disappointment for the Rams who gave him big money. For it to be worthwhile, he has to revert back to his Detroit form. Based off of last year, that’s a .”
This isn’t the first time Gabriel has criticized Jackson and his fit with the Bears.
After the Rams permitted Jackson to seek a trade during the NFL Scouting Combine last week, Gabriel called out Bears fans who were suggesting the team could pursue the 28-year-old guard. He even called Jackson “the Rams’ version of Nate Davis.”
“I have seen several Bears fans say the Bears should go after Jonah Jackson, who the Rams are trying to move,” Gabriel wrote last week. “No, [they] should not!!! He’s awful!!! Rams gave him a lot of money and he sucked. Remember Nate Davis? Jackson was the Rams’ version of Nate Davis.”
Jonah Jackson Struggled in L.A. But Shined in Detroit
Gabriel — and other less pompous fans and analysts — have every right to feel worried about Jackson not living up to expectations for the Bears during the 2025 season.
Jackson played just four games for the Rams in 2024, missing six games early in the season with a scapula injury. While he eventually returned to L.A.’s lineup in Week 10, the Rams benched him after just one game and kept him off the field until necessary again in the regular-season finale — a clear red flag for the $51 million veteran starter.
Los Angeles, however, tried to experiment with Jackson’s alignment with little success.
After Jackson played more than 90% of his career snaps at left guard for the Lions and made the 2021 Pro Bowl roster (as an injury replacement), the Rams tried to move him around all three interior positions during his first season with the team and wound up splitting his time between left guard (93 snaps), center (107) and right guard (66).
Now, that does not mean Jackson will work out with the Bears, but it does suggest they might have more success with him if they lock him into a single role — likely left guard.
Will Bears Still Pursue Another Guard in Free Agency?
Love the trade or hate it, the Bears now have a new veteran guard on their roster who will almost certainly play a starting role on the team’s under-construction offensive line.
Does trading for Jackson take the Bears out of the free-agent guard market, though?
The Bears will need new starters at all three of their interior offensive line positions if they do not re-sign their three 2024 starters (Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton and Matt Pryor) before they reach unrestricted free agency next week. Jackson will fill one role, likely Jenkins’ vacated left guard position, but that still leaves the Bears with holes.
There is a strong possibility the Bears will still pursue one of the top veteran centers on the market — Drew Dalman or Ryan Kelly — given how shallow the 2025 draft class is at the position, but acquiring Jackson and his $11.83 million cap hit (per Over the Cap) may keep the Bears from investing big and long-term money into a guy like Will Fries.
That said, one right guard who could interest them? Ex-Lions veteran Kevin Zeitler.
Zeitler has clear connections to new Bears head coach Ben Johnson from their shared time in Detroit. At 32 years old, he will also likely not need as much of a long-term commitment from a team in free agency as some of the younger talent available.
Signing a short-term starter like Zeitler would also still suit the Bears in the NFL draft, in which they could remain aggressive in terms of acquiring more help for their line.
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