The Patriots waited until the last minute, but they’re tendering J.C. Jackson. New England has placed the second-round tender on the restricted free agent cornerback, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
This one is interesting since many people had expected the Pats to place the first-round tender on Jackson. The second-round tender is worth around $3.4MM in 2021 while the first-round tender is worth around $4.8MM. Rapoport writes that Jackson “could see action in the RFA market,” which as he notes is pretty rare. But Jackson isn’t any old restricted free agent.
He played like one of the league’s better corners this past season, so Bill Belichick took a bit of a gamble here. If any team does decide to sign Jackson to an offer sheet, the Patriots would either match it, or let him walk and collect a second-round pick from that team. A first-round tender would’ve ensured he’s back in New England in 2021, but it’s not totally out of the question that a team would be willing to forfeit a second-rounder for him.
An UDFA out of Maryland in 2018, Jackson has been Belichick’s latest diamond in the rough find. He started five games as a rookie, and has shown tremendous ballhawking skills.
In 2018 he picked off three passes while only playing less than 38 percent of the defensive snaps. In 2019 he picked off five while only playing 68 percent. This past season he played 84 percent of the snaps, and intercepted a whopping nine passes, the second-most in the league. He also had 14 passes defended and three fumble recoveries.
New England revamped their offense sure, but bringing back Cam and losing Andrews and Jackson neutralizes any strides made in FA.
Just shut up about Cam already. It’s March 17th. Not September 12th.
Did I miss something JC and Andrews haven’t signed anywhere yet and o’ya they still haven’t had the draft either
So you’re a little early complaining about what they haven’t done
if they do lose JC that could be a good thing they would get another second round pick to package in a trade if they want to move up in the first round or add another late first
Good fit for Green Bay depending on price. They need someone to pair with Jaire Alexander, and Kevin king is (finally) gone.
I find it hard to believe with the cap space the pats had/have they didn’t include JC in that monetary plan somewhere. I’d be suprised if the pats don’t match any offer. Especially with Chung getting up in age and Gilmore being way more expensive…