Chicago Bears: Eddie Jackson becomes NFL highest paid safety

The Chicago Bears gave Eddie Jackson a huge extension, making him the highest-paid safety in the NFL

Heading into the offseason, the Chicago Bears had a plethora of questions. However, two things were certain. They needed to try to extend Eddie Jackson and Allen Robinson before they entered the 2020 season as free agents.

The team was quick to move on their first piece, as they extended Jackson right after the season. The deal is reported to be a $58.4 million deal with $33 million in guaranteed money over four years.

The extension will keep Jackson in Chicago through 2024, as he still has one year on his rookie deal.

When comparing it to some of the other best safeties in the NFL, it is clear the Bears had some of the top numbers in the NFL in mind.

When looking at total value, Kevin Byard and Landon Collins got more, with $84 million and $70 million deals. However, on a per-year basis $14.6 is the highest average salary, topping those two who signed longer deals.

Byard makes $14.1 million on average while Collins is tied with Tyran Mathieu for $14 million in average annual salary.

The most important aspect was likely guaranteed dollars. Making $33 million guaranteed is the highest pre-signing bonus guarantee.

Earl Thomas got $32 million, while Collins got $31 million guaranteed. This was clearly something that Jackson wanted, and getting the top annual salary and most guaranteed made the process easy.

The question will be how the salary cap works out with his signing bonus. We will keep you updated moving forward.