Bears’ Eddie Jackson on This Week’s Trades: ‘What Are We Playing For?’

The veteran safety explained his thoughts on the organization’s recent moves.

The Bears were active prior to the NFL’s trade deadline, selling key defensive players Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith in separate deals while adding wide receiver Chase Claypool in another.

The moves were meant to help Chicago for the future, but one player was more confused than anything. Safety Eddie Jackson openly acknowledged his confusion by general manager Ryan Poles’s decisions.

“Your thoughts start to go through your head like, ‘What are we playing for?’” safety Eddie Jackson said, via NFL.com. “Is their vision (in the front office) still the same as the players? We’re trying to make it to a Super Bowl, get to the playoffs, things like that. Like I said, I’m not upstairs. I get it. I understand it. But it just hits different.”

Between Smith and Quinn, Chicago traded the team’s leading tackler and the player second in sacks on the season. However, Smith is scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason, while Quinn is 32 years old and unlikely to be part of Chicago’s next core.

Jackson, meanwhile, is signed through 2024 despite being 30 years old, and has spent his entire career in Chicago. He currently leads the Bears in interceptions and became the team’s leading tackler once Quinn was traded.

The Bears are 3–5 as they enter Week 9, tied for second in the NFC North and only a game out of the playoff picture. However, there are six NFC teams with three wins, so Chicago has a ton of competition if it wants to make the playoffs this year.

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