Sources: Safety Jackson returning to Broncos

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Kareem Jackson, a mainstay in the Denver Broncos‘ defense for each of the last four seasons, has agreed to terms on a one-year deal to return to the team for a fifth year.

Sources told ESPN the safety’s deal was agreed to over the weekend. Terms were not immediately available, but the 35-year-old, signed a one-year deal worth $2 million to return for the 2022 season last spring.

Broncos general manager George Paton said during this year’s draft that conversations with Jackson’s representatives were “ongoing” and would continue.

Jackson, who was a first-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2010, said earlier this offseason he wanted to return to the Broncos and, “I hope it works out, we’ll see where they are with the new staff and if there’s a fit.”

He added he believed the defense had a “great core group that is ready to get over the hump.”

Broncos coach Sean Payton said during the draft that defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, who was a Texans assistant during Jackson’s time with the team, would deploy a 3-4 defensive scheme that was “similar to last year’s.”

Jackson flourished last season with a career-best 94 tackles. And in a season when the Broncos were riddled with injuries overall — 22 players were on injured reserve in the season’s final week — Jackson was the only player on the Broncos’ defense to start, and finish, every game.

He played a career-most 1,139 snaps last season.