Safety Eddie Jackson, nearing the end of his seventh season and possibly his Bears career, won the Jeff Dickerson Good Guy Award for being the team’s most professional and helpful player in working with reporters.
In discussing his leadership role with the team, the conversation turned introspective with Jackson as he heads into what could be his final home game at Soldier Field.
“I’m living in the moment, man... so I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “Lord willing, I hope I’m here next year. God always has a plan, so I feel like I’ll always land on my feet. I hope it’s here.
“I know how it works in the business, [but] I wish I could be here my whole entire career... I’m guaranteed two more games as a Chicago Bear. So I’m going to live in that moment, appreciate that moment.”
Jackson, 30, has one season left on his contract and would count $18.1 million against the salary cap, but the Bears could save $14.2 million in cap space by releasing him.
He made the Pro Bowl in 2018, when he also was All-Pro, and ’19 and led the Bears with four interceptions last season before getting hurt. He has 15 career interceptions, including one this season, and six defensive touchdowns.
Jackson was a fourth-round pick out of Alabama in 2017 and already is on his third head coach with the Bears. The team’s only winning season in his time was when it won the NFC North in 2018. Amid all the Bears’ turbulence, though, he said this is the “craziest” of his tenure, particularly with two assistant coaches being dismissed for non-football reasons.
“I never experienced something like that... losing a coordinator, the season off to a not the type of start we thought we was gonna have... It was just so crazy,” he said. “But... when you go through troubles, trials, tribulations in life, at the end of that tunnel there is always light. There is something special with this team. It’s sucks that we caught fire [so] late in the season, especially the defense, but there’s certain things you can’t control.
“Every player in that locker room would tell you this is probably one the craziest seasons they have experienced.”
