Kareem Jackson on free agency: ‘Rare for guys to get another bite at the apple’

Safety Kareem Jackson has spent all of his nine NFL seasons with the Houston Texans, who made him a first-round draft pick in 2010 and re-signed him after he became a free agent in 2015.

Jackson, who was a cornerback for most of his time with the Texans, is looking forward to a second chance to enter the open market, something that isn’t all that common.

‘We kind of go through the same steps with my agent and look for the best fit’

“I’ve been through this process,” Jackson told Bruce Murray and Mark Dominik on the SiriusXM Blitz. “The first time, trying to get that that first bite of the apple, but it’s kind of rare for guys to get a chance to get another bite at it. It’s definitely a blessing for me and my family, but I don’t think anything has changed. We kind of go through the same steps with my agent and look for the best fit and make the best decision possible.”

“At the end of the day, you understand the business, you understand things may not happen the way you want it to happen.”

Jackson would prefer to remain with the Texans. Since joining the Texans from the University of Alabama, he and his family have embraced Houston as their home.

‘This is home for me, my family’s here, we’re established here’

“I mean, for me, I would definitely love to, obviously, come back here,” he said. “This is home for me, my family’s here, we’re established here. I’ve been here nine years. But at the end of the day, you understand the business, you understand things may not happen the way you want it to happen.

“For me, it’ll be all about making the best decision possible for me and my family. I think I put myself in a great situation to know that it’ll be a pretty good market for me out there to capitalize going into year 10. … Going into year 10, it’s rare to get to get this opportunity. And, obviously, you want to go to a team that will be a contender, that will add some great pieces. You don’t want to just go play and end up on a team and your guys go 2-14. Man, that is tough. But at the end of the day, I did what I was supposed to do that to be in a great situation and to be compensated the right way.”