The San Francisco 49ers have signed former USC defensive end Drake Jackson to his rookie four-year deal. The team selected Jackson with the 29th pick (No. 61 overall) in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. News of the signing comes from Jackson's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and was first reported by Pro Football Talk.
Jackson becomes the first of the 49ers' nine draft picks to sign with the team.
"You turn on the film, and he just jumps off the film in terms of his athleticism and talent and length and all the things -- his ability to turn the corner and redirect, all the things we look for and covet in a defensive end," general manager John Lynch said of Jackson on April 29. "Then we brought Drake in and got a real good feel for him as a person. Really worked hard on him and thrilled to be able to land him. Didn't think he'd be at 61, and he came there, and we were happy to grab him and make him a part of the Niners."
Jackson registered 37 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, five sacks, a pass defensed, an interception, and a forced fumble through 10 game appearances as a junior in 2021, per Sports Reference. He recorded 103 tackles, 25 tackles for a loss, 12.5 sacks, and two interceptions through three seasons with the Trojans.
After being drafted, Jackson told reporters that he expects the 49ers to keep him along the edge of a defensive line that already features star pass rusher Nick Bosa.
"I hope [Bosa] is as excited to be my teammate as I am to be his," Jackson shared. "As soon as I get out there, I right try to find him and get a handshake from him and workout or something. I want to get in there and start getting the knowledge and the things that I need to grow and keep being a monster like him. He's literally a gremlin on the side, he's a monster. He puts fear into tackles' eyes, and I just want to be the same way."
Thanks to the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which runs through the 2030 season, all rookie contracts are for a length of four years. First-round selections come with an option for a fifth year, which doesn't apply to any of the 49ers' nine draft selections.
The total value of Jackson's four-year contract was set to be $6,249,510, per OverTheCap.com. That included a signing bonus of $1,725,096 and a 2022 salary-cap figure of $1,136,274. Update: ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Jackson took a smaller $5,802,392 deal to increase his guarantees to $3,143,212.
49ers' top pick Drake Jackson signed his 4-year, $5,802,392, which includes $3,143,212 in guarantees, per his agents @DrewJRosenhaus and @RyanMatha.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 2, 2022
"I'm really versatile. I am young and I would say that benefits me," Jackson added. "That's more time that I got to learn. People say that this is still a learning phase that I'm in, so I think I have a lot of knowledge that I can take in coming from the D-Line room and just everybody in the league. This whole first year is like a learning process so I just want to take it and go."