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Insider believes chances of Patriots franchise tagging J.C. Jackson are ‘low’
The Patriots have until March 8 to place the franchise tag on Jackson.
One of the biggest decisions of the Patriots’ offseason will be made within the next 10 days.
New England has until March 8 to place the franchise tag on star cornerback J.C. Jackson before he becomes an unrestricted free agent later in March. As the deadline looms, one Patriots insider doesn’t believe New England will place the franchise tag despite Jackson being an integral part of the defense over the past couple of seasons.
“The window for teams to assign the franchise tag on players has opened and extends to March 8, with cornerback J.C. Jackson the likely only candidate to strongly consider in New England,” ESPN’s Mike Reiss wrote in his Sunday column. “A tag would be a projected $17.3 million for the 2022 season. Unless the Patriots believe they have a strong tag-and-trade possibility, I rate the odds of them tagging Jackson as low.”
Reiss isn’t the only person on the Patriots beat that holds the same opinion.
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“The more I think about it, I don’t think they tag J.C. Jackson,” Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard said on the “Patriots Press Pass” podcast. “I don’t think Bill [Belichick] can stomach tagging a guy at $17.3 million. That isn’t worthwhile there.
“If he does tag him, it shows how desperate he is at the position.”
As Reiss and Bedard mentioned, tagging Jackson would give Jackson an estimated fully guaranteed $17.3 million salary for the 2022 season. But if they did tag him, the Patriots can still negotiate a long-term deal with Jackson, which they would have to do prior to July 15.
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Tagging Jackson would also give the Patriots assurance that they wouldn’t lose him without getting anything in return. However, it’s unknown what trading Jackson would fetch in return.
Bedard shared what he thinks the Patriots will offer Jackson and what will happen once free agency starts on March 16.
“I think the Patriots make him a contract offer that’s somewhere around $15 million per year, probably about $35 million guaranteed. I think it’s a fair offer. J.C. Jackson should seriously consider it,” Bedard said. “But J.C. Jackson will get with his agent and say ‘Nope. We think we’re at the top of the market. We’re going to see what’s out there.’
“Now, can Belichick get J.C. Jackson to give Belichick first right of refusal, which is basically ‘Alright, go see what you’re worth and then come back to us.’ He could match it. That’s what happened with Devin McCourty and Vince Wilfork. Donta’ Hightower went out on the free-agent market. Go out and get an offer and we’ll see whether or not we want to match it. If they’re desperate enough, they will match it if J.C. Jackson’s interested in that.
“The other option is they don’t tag him. They let him see what the market is and the hope is that other teams don’t see him as a top five cornerback. He’s not overwhelmed by the offers and he decides to stay here.”
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Bedard’s speculated offer would actually make Jackson one of the highest-paid corners in the league. A $15 million per year deal would be the eighth-highest among all corners while the $35 million guaranteed would be seventh-highest, per OverTheCap.com. Of course, there are other factors that could play a role in Jackson’s decision, such as the total years on the contract, how likely he’s able to reach the incentives, how good the team is, location, and possibly more.
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