Bears sign familiar face to $7.5 million contract
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Bears sign familiar face to $7.5 million contract originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Before NFL free agency opens, the Chicago Bears made sure not to let a reliable player get away.
Teams can re-sign players who already finished last season with them, and the Bears took advantage.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday morning that Chicago has signed linebacker D'Marco Jackson on a two-year deal to return to the Bears.
The contract is worth $7.5 million, per Schefter, but has a bonus structure that could make it worth up to $10.5 million.
Jackson is a 27-year old linebacker from Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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He was originally a fifth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Appalachian State.
He played through 2024 with the Saints, appearing in 27 games and making 26 tackles for New Orleans.
The Saints waived Jackson at the end of the 2025 preseason, and the Bears claimed him.
He then put together the best season of his NFL career so far.
In 2025, Jackson played in 16 games for the Bears. He had 43 tackles, including two for loss. He intercepted a pass, had three passes defensed, recovered a fumble and recorded his first career sack.
The Bears' linebacker group looks a little different already because they're cutting loose Tremaine Edmunds to allow him to go elsewhere in free agency.
That meant that retaining a guy like Jackson had even a bit of additional value, and Chicago got it done.
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