The Houston Texans will become the first team to start practice at training camp on Thursday in preparation for the 2024 NFL season, but safety Kareem Jackson won’t be on the field.
Jackson played the final two games of the 2023 season and a playoff contest with the Texans, but he wasn’t re-signed in the offseason by Houston or any other NFL team.
Has Jackson’s NFL career come to an end after 14 seasons?
If it has, he’s departing on the doorstep of an Alabama NFL record. Only one Crimson Tide alumnus has started more NFL regular-season games than Jackson – Cornelius Bennett with 204. Jackson is 11 games behind Bennett’s mark.
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Last season, Jackson became the fourth former Alabama player to appear in at least 200 NFL regular-season games, joining Bennett, Howard Cross and Chris Mohr.
Jackson is among the 17 players from Alabama high schools and colleges who ended the 2023 season under contract but don’t have a deal for 2024 with training camps opening across the league.
Not having a contract by now doesn’t mean the players won’t make it onto the field in 2024. Last year, wide receiver Julio Jones didn’t join the Philadelphia Eagles until six games into the season. But he played in the remaining 11 regular-season games and a playoff contest.
The players from Alabama high schools and colleges who ended the 2023 season under contract but remain free agents for 2024 include:
· Linebacker Kwon Alexander (Oxford) suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the ninth game of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season.
· Offensive tackle Chandler Brewer (Florence) played in one game for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. Brewer finished the season on Jaguars’ practice squad and re-signed with Jacksonville in January. But he was placed on injured reserve last month and released on Tuesday.
· Defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs (Alabama) played in 10 games with Detroit in 2023 and, after being released by the Lions, finished the season on the Kansas City practice squad as the Chiefs went to the Super Bowl. He re-signed with Kansas City after the season, but the Chiefs released him on June 24.
· Linebacker Zach Cunningham (Pinson Valley) started 10 games and recorded 85 tackles for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.
· Safety Rudy Ford (New Hope, Auburn) started nine games, made 71 tackles and intercepted two passes for the Green Bay Packers in 2023.
· Running back Derrick Gore (Alabama) had three carries for 26 yards in six games with the Washington Commanders in 2023.
· Center J.C. Hassenauer (Alabama) missed the New York Giants’ 2023 season because of a torn triceps.
· Cornerback Tae Hayes (Decatur) played in one game off the New York Jets’ practice squad in 2023 and re-signed with the team after the season. But the Jets released him on June 24.
· Offensive tackle Chris Hubbard (UAB) started nine games for the Tennessee Titans in 2023.
· Safety Eddie Jackson (Alabama) had 37 tackles and one interception in 12 starts for the Chicago Bears in 2023.
· Safety Kareem Jackson (Alabama) started eight games with the Denver Broncos around two NFL suspensions, then finished his 14th NFL season with two games for the Houston Texans in 2023.
· Wide receiver Julio Jones (Foley, Alabama) had 11 receptions for 74 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games with the Philadelphia Eagles in his 13th NFL season.
· Defensive end Carl Lawson (Auburn) played in only six games for the New York Jets a year after starting every contest and recording seven sacks in 2022.
· Long snapper Carson Tinker (Alabama) handled the long-snapping for the final four games of the regular season and a playoff contest for the Los Angeles Rams.
· Offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho (Edgewood Academy, Auburn) played in the first three games of the 2023 season for the Kansas City Chiefs before a quadriceps injury sidelined him for the rest of the campaign.
· Defensive tackle Nick Williams (Minor, Samford) had 32 tackles, seven tackles for loss and one sack in 14 games, with six starts, for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023.
Another player who became a free agent on March 13 who doesn’t have a contract isn’t looking for one. Running back Damien Harris (Alabama) announced his retirement on March 25.
Two other players with Alabama football roots played in at least five games last season, were released during the 2023 campaign and did not catch on with a team during the offseason:
· Linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High, Alabama) played in nine games with the Dallas Cowboys before being released on Dec. 27.
· Defensive back Bobby McCain (Oxford) played in 10 games with the New York Giants before being released on Dec. 16.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.