Should The Patriots Extend JC Jackson?

[Nex_Gen]

It's safe to say JC Jackson has earned himself a huge payday, and deservedly so. Whether or not that team will be the Patriots is the question. There is no doubt 25 other teams will be lining up at the door the moment (if) he takes his first step in Free Agency.

Over his few first seasons, he already proved to be a play making #2 CB. This season, he has upped his game even more and has been near shutdown and has played like a top 3 CB overall. I admittedly capped him off as ball hawking defender that was somewhat overrated, who will never truly be a true #1. Well this crow taste damn good.

Not all UDFA CBs that come through this system are created equally. Malcolm Butler revered himself into Patriots history with a legendary play that will be painted with eternity and immortality, followed up with a Cinderella like career (still pretending to be oblivious to how things ended with the Super Bowl benching). He didn't even get a second contract. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 as Stephon Gilmore happened to be available that same offseason and that bold move to supplement the position externally proved to be the best Free Agent signing Bill the GM has ever pulled off. Gilmore only went on to put together the most prolific 3-4 years any defensive player has put together under Belichick. And that's saying A LOT.

Oh yeah, there's also Jonathan Jones - who doesn't quite have the fairy tale. But has been a steady contributor and is playing on his second contract as we speak. One key thing to point was that Jones signed an extension quite early on to get a small raise sooner rather than later and cash in while keeping the bond and camaraderie intact with the cut throat legendary Coach/GM. I'd like to think he would have gotten a nice contract from another team if he ever played out his first contract.

Will JC Jackson be dawning Patriots thread next year and for many years to come?

 

 

[Crimmage]

I think they would be smart to make the money work and sign him to a 4 year deal. CB depth is incredibly thin.. you want to move Mills out of the #2 CB spot and into a move flexible CB/S spot long term. If JC is gone you have Mills as your #1 and Williams / Wade battling for the #2 spot, nobody wants that. 

 

I think Wade is going to determine more than we think this offseason regarding the #2 CB spot.. but as far as #1 is concerned, if you want to compete you have to resign JC. Nobody else in free agency will be anywhere near as close to the player he is, and spending a 1st round pick on a #1 corner isn't going to work if they plan to compete the next couple years. 

 

My plan for the secondary would be as follows: 

 

CB

• JC Jackson is resigned and #1 Corner
• Top 2 round CB drafted and hopefully wins starting spot opposite Jackson in camp
• Wade / Mills / Williams are CB depth
• Jonathan Jones is traded to free up some cap space and help with resigning JC Jackson 
• Myles Bryant is replacement slot corner ( with Mills / Wade helping out as well) 

 

S

• McCourty Retires
• Phillips is resigned
• Dugger becomes a pro bowl caliber safety 
• Bryant / Mills help out as S depth 
• Another safety is drafted 

 

Perfect scenario would be Wade performs exceptionally well and they don't even need to spend a high pick on a CB, but I doubt they are that lucky.

 

At the end of the day, BB probably has another 4 years to coach roughly.. why look for a top corner when you have one? End your coaching career with a ballhawk corner and work the rest of the roster around that while you have a cheap QB. 

[Hunter2_1]

We’ve got to. We can’t have a CB depth chart starting Johnathan Jones and Jalen Mills going into next season. A draft pick may bust, and that’s a bottom 10 secondary all of a sudden. JC is crucial. 
 

Or another top 10 starting CB in FA. 

[SBLIII]

yes. Or tag.

Either way JC needs to be a Patriot in 2022.

The foundation of our success has to be defense for a while.

[Apparition]

I don't see what other option they have.

 

[1ForTheThumb]

He has to get tagged at a minimum 

[The Third Rider]

I expect them to tag him, which should run the pats around 17 million or so.

[SBLIII]

43 minutes ago, The Third Rider said:

I expect them to tag him, which should run the pats around 17 million or so.

that's the question. I don't see any way Belichick lets him walk. If he tests the market we will likely give him 20 per year but it could help the capspace and backload the contract and only lose 8-10 million of cap in first year.

[The Third Rider]

2 hours ago, SBLIII said:

that's the question. I don't see any way Belichick lets him walk. If he tests the market we will likely give him 20 per year but it could help the capspace and backload the contract and only lose 8-10 million of cap in first year.

Its best to give him a long term contract, we only have 21 million going into 2022 and we can't have him gobble it all up. 

[dhunt2402]

Tag and then walk is my guess. They're not paying top dollar when he (eventually) hits the market. Hopefully they're able to draft someone next year, it's looking like a deep class at corner.

[Soko]

I see maybe 2-3 corners in the next two free agent classes that can be lateral moves or upgrades from JC. Two of them are Jaire and Ward, neither of which are going to hit the market. The other is Gilmore. 

Need to keep Jackson, pending anything crazy.

[Crimmage]

12 hours ago, dhunt2402 said:

Tag and then walk is my guess. They're not paying top dollar when he (eventually) hits the market. Hopefully they're able to draft someone next year, it's looking like a deep class at corner.

It is a deep class but if they lose JC then they really need to draft 2 CB unless they think Williams / Wade are going to be a starting CB. With other holes on the team can they really afford to spend 2 of their first 3/4 picks on CB? 

 

To me it seems like a no brainer to resign JC, if you can get him for 4 years, 64 Million or something in that range you've got to make it happen. Especially with the cap rising it makes sense to get him for the prime of his career ( and during the portion of time that Mac is on a cheap contract). 

Then if you have JC on one side and a 1st round stud corner on the other side your defense will be dominant for the remainder of BB's years coaching. 

[SBLIII]

10 minutes ago, Crimmage said:

It is a deep class but if they lose JC then they really need to draft 2 CB unless they think Williams / Wade are going to be a starting CB. With other holes on the team can they really afford to spend 2 of their first 3/4 picks on CB? 

 

To me it seems like a no brainer to resign JC, if you can get him for 4 years, 64 Million or something in that range you've got to make it happen. Especially with the cap rising it makes sense to get him for the prime of his career ( and during the portion of time that Mac is on a cheap contract). 

Then if you have JC on one side and a 1st round stud corner on the other side your defense will be dominant for the remainder of BB's years coaching. 

Exactly my thoughts. You don't have a number one wide receiver, you don't have a Gronk at TE either. So your offense won't be a top 5 unit anytime soon. We have to win with defense just like the Seahawks when Wilson was on his rookie deal. Draft well and re-sign Jackson. 

We are going to run into enough problems at safety with Phillips hitting FA and McCourty possibly retiring. We just can't open 3 holes at once.

[Crimmage]

9 hours ago, SBLIII said:

Exactly my thoughts. You don't have a number one wide receiver, you don't have a Gronk at TE either. So your offense won't be a top 5 unit anytime soon. We have to win with defense just like the Seahawks when Wilson was on his rookie deal. Draft well and re-sign Jackson. 

We are going to run into enough problems at safety with Phillips hitting FA and McCourty possibly retiring. We just can't open 3 holes at once.

Agreed, resigning Jackson and for that matter Phillips are top priority. I think of everything on a 4 year plan for this team, within 4 years BB can get the all time wins record and will retire. That also puts it at the full window of Macs rookie contract, meaning BB can spend money on the rest of the team without every needing to worry about a big QB contract. 

 

I would be amazed if Phillips leaves, BB seems to love him. There is a good chance that McCourty retires.. that puts an even larger emphasis on drafting a high end corner to help out in the secondary so Mills can play more safety ( which I believe was BB's plan when he signed him). This is a passing league, BB knows it.. he's going to want a dominant pass defense and keeping Jackson / Phillips are a big part of that. 

 

I would expect the first two days of this draft to be defensive players, BB is going to want to inject high end talent into this defense to keep it an elite unit until he retires. CB / LB / S are all in play first three rounds I'd imagine. A pass rusher is possible if someone great slips to them like Barmore but I think it's more likely that we see Perkins get some run next year as his redshirt rookie season. 

 

Regarding the offense, unless the team makes some surprising moves ( cutting / trading Agholor or Smith) this is the same offense next year. We are going to be hoping for "foundation year" improvements.

- Meyers is going to be a RFA so we could see a slot wr get drafted late or we could see Tre Nixon get some play but this team needs speed ... but I'd be surprised if anyone tries to steal Meyers away

- Wynn has improved so he likely gets another year at LT until they let him walk ( Next year is almost guaranteed first round pick on a LT) 

- Late round OL picks are almost guaranteed 

- RB is all set, but a late round pass catching back to develop is possible if they plan to get rid of Taylor and develop someone else 

- Our best hope is that Harry has some good games towards the end of the season and they can trade him for a 4th-5th rounder.. I still think the guy has potential and could make catches ( especially in the red zone) if given the chance.. but this team needs speed more than a big body, Mac needs his own Deebo Samuel type player 

[m haynes]

15 hours ago, Crimmage said:

Next year is almost guaranteed first round pick on a LT) 

I not so sure. CB talent in the 1st rd is impressive. Some say 6 could be taken in the 1st RD.  LT position IMO is not a deep position in the draft.  The skill level is about the same with players rated at the bottom of the 1st and the 2nd RD. Pick a flavor !!  IOL is a different story you might have a chance at some high level talent falling in the 1st.

So far the player I like the most is, Ikem Ekwonu but he is flying up the board and could be a top 10 pick. Next on my list Daxton Hill S Mich.

 

High school  " he logged a 4.3 40-yard dash and a 43-inch vertical, as well as a 4.13 20-yard shuttle."

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/daxton-hill-michigan-s-nfl-draft-scouting-report-2022/

 

ADDED   You can do a little scouting on Hill. He playing Ohio ST this WE. That should give us a great look at his skills.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by m haynes