LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Eddie Jackson doesn't know what's on the horizon after the Bears' season ends Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. The veteran safety isn't backing down from the idea that this could be his last game in a Bears uniform.
But he prays it won't be like that. After everything he and the group have been through together, all he wants is to finish what he believes was integral to starting this final rebuilding process.
“I just, man, I wish I was here [to see it through]”What we're building is special,” Jackson told NBC Sports Chicago during several sit-ins this week at Halas Hall. I feel like I play a major role in it too. Just to look past the ups and downs that I've had here and see, “Yes, we're really on the upswing.” If I have to let it go, at this crucial moment, man, it's bad. I mean it would be bad. I can't imagine myself anywhere else, man. I've been here seven years. This is the house. I got my home here. My children are here. It's just home to me. It's hard for me to be seen elsewhere. I would like to understand that. If I were somewhere else, I'd be fine, but I can't see myself anywhere else. I don't want to see him. He should be here.”
Jackson, 30, is the veteran leader of a young Bears defense that has been stifling opponents over the final month of the season. He also only has one year remaining on his contract, and the Bears could save $12-$14 million in cap space if they move on from him this offseason, depending on when the trade is made.
Jackson's experience in Chicago ran the gamut.
Drafted out of Alabama in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Jackson made the Pro Bowl in both 2018 and 2019. He was an All-Pro selection in 2018 after a campaign of six interceptions and two touchdowns as part of the NFL's best. -Defense registration.
A big contract followed, but his production declined in 2020 and 2021. Turnovers declined, and the number of missed tackles increased, leading some to believe Jackson would be let go when general manager Ryan Bowles came in to begin the rebuild.
But while the Poles traded Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith and let Akiem Hicks go, the Poles wanted Jackson to remain one of the few veteran leaders on a young team starting from the ground up.
Jackson engaged in the HITS principle and put his career back in 2022, notching four interceptions before suffering a Lisfranc injury in Week 13. Jackson again suffered a foot injury in Week 2 of this season but has been healthy since Week 9. He can see the Bears defense developing into a Super Bowl-caliber unit before his eyes.
He helped shepherd young defensive backs Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Tyreek Stevenson through the growing pains of his early career. He believes he and Brisker can become one of the best safety tandems in NFL history. He only asks that the Poles let him see the fruits of his labor.
“It would mean everything,” Jackson said of the Bears bringing him back in 2024. “Just going through the ups and downs, and just to see, 'Yes, he's here now.' Now.' “We're right there on the edge. Just to see where it goes, man. It's going to be very special to me.” [still] Be here. To be a part of the Super Bowl here, in Chicago, is like a weird dream for me. Maybe I will retire after that. Like, I don't know. It doesn't get any better than this. To do it here, in Chicago, the team that hired me, after everything we've been through over the years, would be special.
“Being a Bear means a lot to me,” Jackson said. “My children were born here. It means a lot to me. Everything. They took a chance on me after I had a broken leg. They came and trusted me and gave me the opportunity to come in and show what I can do. Then trust me. “I want to be here with the guys now. I can't thank them enough. “I have more to offer.”
Everyone inside Halas Hall applauds Jackson's role in helping start this rebuilding process. The rebuilding process cannot be successful with only young players. Some veterans are needed, and Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus believe Jackson will be vital in the locker room and that his play at the pro level can return.
“Both of them were great,” Eberflus said of the value of Jackson and cornerback Jaylon Johnson in the rebuild. “True professionals. They did everything we asked of them. They helped the guys. They both stepped up. Eddie had a really great year last year. He had a solid, consistent year this year. He had a really good year last year before he got injured. “Jaylon has really come into his own lately. I'm excited for both of these guys. Where their future will be, we don't know all that right now. We sure would love to have them here.”
If Sunday ends in Green Bay, don't cry for Jackson. He understands that this is a business. He wouldn't take it personally if the Poles chose to move on and go in a different direction safely next to Brisker.
Heading to the other side of the 30, many veterans may look at it as an opportunity to go at a surefire contender at the end of their prime. There is no shortage of Super Bowl contenders who need a veteran safety with range and good instincts. Playing at a high level on a top-tier team could earn Jackson another solid contract.
None of this caught his attention as the thought of the end in Chicago approached.
“I want to win. Here,” Jackson said. “I've got some money. I want to win. When you get to this point in your career, money is no longer a factor in it. It's about winning. If you can be part of a winning organization, go out there and compete for a playoff spot, a championship.” That means something. I've been there. I've been paid and I've lost. This is bad. Money didn't make me feel better.
“They know what I am to the team in their eyes. I don't have to tell them,” Jackson said of the Poles and Eberflus. “Go ask guys how much I mean.”
If Sunday is the end for Eddie Jackson and the Bears, he wants people to remember him as someone who put everything on the line for an organization he loved. A man who never stopped thanking the organization that took a chance on him out of Alabama and a man who still believes he has something to give back after they trusted him to be part of this rebuild.
But he has bigger visions for what the Bears' legacy will be. He shows up and imagines what the true ending would look like – if they gave him the chance to survive.
“Hall of fame, man. I want to be on.” [Halas Hall] “The wall,” Jackson said. “It's crazy, man. Like what?! I want to be on this wall so bad. It's so crazy, because, man, these years, the longer they get, the shorter they get. … It's about not trying to live in regret. It's about The command is to go ahead and stack them.
“Hall of Fame. I want to be.” [remembered] As one of the greatest safe ways to play this game and for bears.
This week, as the Bears prepared for their chance to knock the rival Packers out of the playoffs with a win at Lambeau Field, Jackson sat in his locker in the corner throughout the open sessions. Normally, players wander in and out of therapy or strength training, but Jackson was there, appearing to be enjoying what could be his final week in Halas Hall.
Jackson remembers that two offseasons ago, he watched Mack get traded and Hicks leave. He knows the impact losing Smith and Quinn will have on the 2022 locker room.
He still is.
It's no exaggeration to say that Eddie Jackson helped bring the Bears out of the darkness, and in doing so bring himself back.
Now, he's hoping the Bears will put their trust in him again. Believe that it is not finished yet and that it is a necessary part of what is to come.
“That would be fuel for the fire,” Jackson said of the Bears trusting him again. “I can't let them down. Even when they kept me here last year, I was like, 'I have to tell them who I am. I have to tell them what type of player I am. That will be the best thing.'” The same.”
The future may be unclear for Jackson. The NFL is a business, and your value is only tied to what you have left in the tank. While Jackson can't say where he will play in 2024, he sees a clear picture of what comes next for the team and organization he helped revitalize.
“The sky's the limit. Real, real. There's no limits to what we can do,” Jackson said.
Jackson and the Bears have been intertwined for seven years. Whether Sunday's game in Green Bay is the end or not, the Bears will always be a part of Jackson's DNA. A player and a team that rose, fell and rose again together. An organization puts its chips behind a player who feels they still have some giving to do.
“This is where it all started,” Jackson said. “I was a part of this when it was over. I was a part of him when he was down. Now, I'm a part of him when he's back up, so, shoot, I've earned the right to be Part of it when it's on its way up.
“Next year, man, it's got to be. Here or somewhere else. I pray he hears from you, man. I've got to be here. I still have more to give.”
Sunday in Green Bay could be the end for Eddie Jackson and the Bears. Or it may be another beginning, a beginning whose end has not yet been written.
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