Patriots Exec Addresses Contract Situation Of Veteran Cornerback

The New England Patriots will spend their offseason working on the 2024 roster. The team had another disappointing season and the management is all-in when it comes to making major changes. Cutting ties with Bill Belichick is probably the biggest change the Patriots made. Jerod Mayo will take his position as a head coach. Who will be in charge of roster decisions? The Patriots have released a few players and they also have to decide on the contract of veteran cornerback J.C. Jackson. It’s another important question for the team.

Jackson is on his second stint with the Patriots, but things don’t look really great for him. The team has enough cap space, but they can definitely use some more. Jackson’s departure could help them accomplish this.

Chris Mason from MassLive reported that the Patriots can save up to $14 million against the cap.

Losing Jackson may not be a big deal for the Patriots. He has issues on and off the football field. He caused quite a mass last season. Will the Patriots even try to keep him around?

Patriots have yet to discuss cornerback Jackson’s contract

Patriots de facto general manager Eliot Wolf discussed Jackson’s contract situation at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“I would say we haven’t come to a decision on that,” Wolf told the media in Indianapolis. “We’re kinda working through different options. I haven’t talked to the defensive staff about that one specifically yet.”

Jackson saw action in eight games last season. He finished the season on the reserve/non-football illness list. According to his agent, Jackson has been dealing with mental health issues for quite some time.

The troubled player had great performance in his first four season with the Patriots. The Los Angeles Chargers decided to give him a chance in 2022, but it didn’t work. In 2023, Jackson had 25 tackles and zero interceptions.

Patriots players stand by Jackson

Jackson may be having issues, but Patriots players support him. Jalen Mills is one of them. He never cut contact with the player and they talk quite often.

“J.C., that’s my dog, man,” Mills said. “My first year here, it was me and him on the outside. So I’ve always kept in contact with him, just call him, check in on him, see how he’s doing. People kind of fail to realize that we are athletes and we do get paid a lot of money, but we’re humans just like everybody else. We go through things like everybody else.

“I don’t know the exact extent of it, of what’s going on, but he is human, and we go through things.”