Still only 26 years old, New England Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson is slated to hit free agency later in March.
Reports indicate that New England has no intention of placing the franchise tag on the Pro Bowl cornerback — meaning that he will test free agency.
Coming off yet another brilliant campaign, the former undrafted free agent from Maryland will be among the top free agents on the market. There’s not going to be a limited number of teams interested in him. However, Jackson’s reported asking price of north of $20 million does limit the field some. Below, we look at four ideal landing spots for J.C. Jackson in free agency.
Related: Bold predictions for NFL free agency
Los Angeles Chargers land J.C. Jackson
A recent report from NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo indicated that Los Angeles is expected to be in on both Jackson and fellow former New England Patriots star Stephon Gilmore. There’s good reason for this. The Chargers are currently $57.53 million under the cap. And while franchising Mike Williams would cost another $19 million, Los Angeles has the financial ability to go big-game hunting.
The idea here would be to team Jackson up with stud young cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. to form one of the best corner tandems in the NFL. Michael Davis would then move inside to the slot. For a Chargers squad looking to get over the hump, Jackson would be an absolute steal.
Related: NFL salary cap situations for all 32 teams
Cincinnati Bengals surprise the masses
Typically, Cincinnati is not one of the teams that spends big time money on outside free agents. There’s also some question about how front office head Mike Brown structures contracts. It’s led to Bengals players leaving in free agency in the past.
Now, fresh off a shocking appearance in the Super Bowl, Cincinnati is in prime position to land a top-flight defender. It is currently $48.78 million under the cap with another $10.87 million set to come off the books once Trae Waynes is released. Equally as important, Jackson would be an absolute stud in defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s system.
- J.C. Jackson stats (2021): 58 tackles, 23 passes defended, 8 INT, 46.8 rating allowed
Those are some absolutely ridiculous numbers. Having Jackson team up with Chidobe Awuzie at cornerback would be a win. He’d be a major upgrade over Eli Apple, who was absolutely atrocious in Cincinnati’s Super Bowl loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Related: NFL offseason power rankings
New York Jets add J.C. Jackson
New York’s brass got a first-hand look at what J.C. Jackson brings to the table last season. In two games against Zach Wilson and Co., Jackson recorded three interceptions. It’s this type of familiarity that might draw the Jets into a sweepstakes for the young corner. It’s also important to note that the Jets are expected to chase after all the big names set to hit free agency.
Coming off four-win campaign in Robert Saleh’s first season as their head coach, the Jets have two top-10 picks. They can afford to address the skill positions with those selections. Adding a top-flight corner to a defense that yielded 28 passing touchdowns against seven interceptions last season is a necessity. It also doesn’t hurt that New York has $44.73 million to spend under the cap. It can afford to pay Jackson $20-plus million annually.
San Francisco 49ers sign J.C. Jackson
We’re not expecting San Francisco to go big-game hunting in free agency. The team is less than $3 million under the cap and has to worry about signing stud youngsters Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel to lucrative long-term extensions.
Even then, cornerback is absolutely a need for San Francisco. It’s one of the reasons why the team has been linked to the aforementioned Stephon Gilmore. Simply put, the current iteration of San Francisco’s cornerback group is not going to work. Here’s a team that relied on Josh Norman (110.6 QB rating allowed in 2021). That’s just pathetic. With the money these 49ers are set to save by trading Jimmy Garoppolo ($25.5 million), they can realistically add J.C. Jackson to the mix.