Safety Eddie Jackson played six NFL seasons before he became a free agent. Now for the second offseason in a row, the former Alabama defensive back is a free agent, and like last year, he doesn’t have to wait for the signing period to start on March 12 to join another team.

The Chicago Bears released Jackson on Feb. 15, 2024, with one year remaining on a $58.4 million contract. Jackson’s release opened $12.56 million on the Bears’ salary cap for 2024.

Jackson is already a free agent this year because he ended the 2024 season on the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad, and practice-squad contracts end one week after the team’s season does.

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said he thought Jackson still had good football ahead of him in the NFL, even though DeCosta waived the two-time Pro Bowler on Nov. 23.

“I think he’s got a lot of football left, and I wish him the best,” DeCosta said during his season-ending press conference. “I enjoyed being around him. It just didn’t work out for him as well as he wanted it to, and it probably didn’t work out as well for us as we wanted it to. But I think he can play football, and, hopefully, he has a good situation next year where he flourishes.”

How did a former first-team All-Pro end up as a practice-squad player?

Last offseason, Jackson didn’t come in from free agency until July 21, when he signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Ravens, who had their safety duo of Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams returning from the 2023 season.

Jackson played in nine games, with four starts, for Baltimore. He recorded 30 tackles, one pass breakup, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit while playing 339 defensive snaps.

Jackson played every defensive snap in Baltimore’s 29-24 loss to Cleveland on Oct. 27, when Browns quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns, including a 38-yard TD pass over Jackson’s head to wide receiver Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds to play.

Jackson played 16 defensive snaps over the Ravens’ next three games before being released.

DeCosta called Jackson’s release “probably more of a roster decision in terms of us needing a spot at that time.” The Ravens signed linebacker Kristian Welch from their practice squad for their 52-man roster as they released Jackson from it. But Baltimore waived Jackson after the safety was left home when the Ravens traveled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 17.

“Sometimes when you add veteran players,” DeCosta said, “as a GM, you’ve got to look at the player and figure out, ‘Is this player going to be happy in his role?’ This is a guy who, I think Eddie was a two-time Pro Bowl safety earlier in his career, and it really comes down to probably I failed. This was a guy who didn’t really want to accept his role as a backup safety and a special-teamer, and I understand that. I really do. It was a good value for us to get him the way we did, and I think sometimes, if I’m guilty of mistakes, it’s finding value but not always considering how that player is going to handle the situation that he’s being forced into.

“Eddie just wasn’t happy with his role. He wanted to play football. He got probably distracted at times. But I appreciate Eddie. He’s a great player. He’s been a great player in his career. He’s played well against us in the past.”

After adding Jackson to their practice squad on Dec. 23, the Chargers elevated the safety to active status for each of their remaining three games. He played 51 defensive snaps and two special-teams plays for Los Angeles.

Jackson joined the Bears in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft after he missed the final seven games of Alabama’s 2016 season because of a broken leg suffered in the Crimson Tide’s 33-14 victory over Texas A&M on Oct. 22.

In his first three NFL seasons, Jackson intercepted 10 passes, recovered five fumbles and scored five touchdowns. He was a first-team All-Pro in his second season and repeated as a Pro Bowler in his third.

With a season remaining on the safety’s four-year rookie contract, the Bears signed Jackson to a $58.4 million extension designed to keep him with the team through the 2024 season.

After signing Jackson to the contract extension, Chicago switched his role in the secondary, using him primarily as a strong safety instead of at free safety. He didn’t intercept a pass in 2020 or 2021.

After drafting safety Jaquan Brisker in 2022, the Bears moved Jackson back to free safety, and he responded with four interceptions, even though he missed five games.

In 2023, Jackson again missed five games because of injuries and recorded 37 tackles while playing 645 defensive snaps. Jackson had averaged 70.3 tackles and 927.5 defensive snaps in his first six seasons.

Jackson started all 100 regular-season games that he played with the Bears – the most for an Alabama alumnus in franchise history.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.