It would be relatively lazy to suggest that since Jonah Jackson opened the 2024 season as the starting center for Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, he could serve as the starting center for the Bears in 2025.
Jackson being the starting center for the Rams to open the 2024 regular season was due to injury more than that being the plan. Beyond that, Jackson has less than 200 career snaps at the center position over the course of his career. The Bears did not trade for Joe Thuney with the impression that Jackson would be serving as their center.
Ben Johnson's arrival as the head coach of the Bears should prove that the Bears are done with their silly experiments at the center position. In his introductory press conference, Johnson stressed the importance of the play at center and following that up with Jackson being his starter at the position doesn't make all that sense.
Unless otherwise proven, the expectation should be that Thuney will be the starting left guard when the Bears open the 2025 season with Jackson serving as the starting right guard. If anything, the trades for Jackson and Thuney does make it more plausible that the Bears could bring Coleman Shelton back to play center.
Drew Dalman is still very much at the center of the Chicago Bears' offseason plans
But that doesn't need to be a move that the Bears feel forced to make because of how much they are paying Jackson and Thuney in 2025. The Bears can still afford to address the center position in free agency next week with the pursuit of, now, their likely top target in Drew Dalman. In updating where things stand with the Bears after their trades this week, ESPN's Courtney Cronin still connects the dots to Dalman.
The impression from the NFL Scouting Combine last week was that the Bears were going to be aggressive in upgrading the interior of their offensive line. Trading for Jackson and Thuney proves that. The next right and logical move would be to ensure that Dalman is the final piece to that plan.