Kareem Jackson’s tenure in Denver is finished and he’s headed back to where his football career started.
The former Broncos safety was awarded via waiver claim to the Houston Texans on Tuesday after Denver waived him Monday, according to the NFL’s transaction wire.
Jackson hasn’t played since Nov. 19 against Minnesota, when he incurred a four-game suspension for the latest in a series of high hits and unnecessary roughness penalties. He was eligible to return Sunday against New England, but Denver used a one-game roster exemption to buy more time and then waived him Monday rather than making a roster move to create a spot for him.
The Broncos likely would have signed him to their practice squad had he cleared waivers, but now he’ll head to the Texans’ 53-man roster.
Jackson had played the past four seasons for the Broncos but spent the first nine years of his career in Houston. There, he’ll be reunited with head coach DeMeco Ryans, with whom he played two years at the beginning of his career.
Jackson started all 69 games he appeared in for the Broncos over the past four years and wraps his Denver tenure with 393 tackles and six interceptions, two of which came earlier this season.
By claiming Jackson, Houston will take on the final two weeks of his $2,515,000 salary for the year, or about $279,444. Houston had a need arise when safety Jimmie Ward injured his quad Sunday. The team placed him on injured reserve Tuesday.
Jackson had been a steady starter and veteran leader for the Broncos over the course of his tenure with the franchise. This year, though, he ran into trouble early in the season with a series of high and helmet-to-helmet hits that saw him fined four times and suspended twice for a total of six games.
He’d missed six of Denver’s past seven due to suspension before the Broncos opted not to activate him Sunday. In the meantime, fourth-year man P.J. Locke stepped in and played well for Vance Joseph’s defense.
When Jackson signed his latest one-year contract to rejoin the Broncos this summer, he did so not knowing what his role might look like. At that point, Denver had Justin Simmons, Caden Sterns and Locke already in the room.
But then Locke started the season on injured reserve due to a dislocated toe and Sterns suffered a torn patella tendon in Week 1, vaulting Jackson right back into a full-time role.
His four fines and six games suspended totaled out to about $928,000 in penalty before any success getting fine money back from the NFL on appeal.
The Broncos also released practice squad defensive back Keidron Smith on Tuesday.
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