Things have really changed for the Detroit Lions and guard Jonah Jackson. The Lions had a chance to extend him last season and extension projections had him cashing in on a big contract that would have paid him somewhere between $10 and $12 million a year. The caveat that’s noted in Justin Rogers of the Detroit News’ article that is embedded there is that the price would likely be coming pending there’s no unforeseen injuries.
Well, as Fat Joe once said “yesterday’s price is not today’s price.” Those injuries came and they didn’t come just once. Jackson had three different periods in which he missed games this season with three different injuries. One of which was the NFC Championship where his presence could helped. Couple that with missing four games last year and Jackson has missed a total of 10 games in the last two seasons.
On top of that, Jackson’s play took a bit of a dive this year after two strong seasons. He allowed 24 pressures, two sacks and eight quarterback hits on a career low 798 snaps. He also put up some of the worst Pro Football Focus grades of his career. He went from from 66.1 grade in 2022 to a 59.7 grade in 2023. The worst fall was in the run game. He went from a 70.3 grade to a 58.2.
With all that in mind, the question now is should Jackson be brought back to Detroit and if he is, is he willing to take much less on this deal? Our on staff cap experts here at AtoZ Sports have worked up a contract projection for Jackson and they think the Lions should offer him a one year, $3.5 million deal with two million of that guaranteed.
That’s a prove it deal for Jackson. If he can stay healthy all season and get his play back to previous levels, he can then come back in 2025 and have a chance to get the deal he was expected to get this offseason.