The Chargers have traded cornerback JC Jackson back to the team he started with – the New England Patriots. The compensation was a swap of future late-round picks; there was also some reworking of Jackson’s contract as well. For the Patriots part, this was obviously in response to Christian Gonzalez’s injury turning out to be more serious. For the Chargers, however, this marks both a tumultuous decision and the end of a saga with quite arguably the biggest free agent bust in franchise history.
How the JC Jackson Trade Affects the Chargers
How We Got Here
There’s been plenty said about J.C. Jackson in his short time with the Chargers – for folks out of the loop, however, the short version is that in 2022, despite being a prized free agency acquisition, he struggled so badly he got benched at one point and then suffered a season-ending patellar tendon injury midway through the season. That’s been career-ending for some, but he miraculously was ready to return by Week 1.
But the struggles continued. Jackson played so badly through two weeks that he got benched – this time permanently. He was a healthy scratch in Week 3, and active in Week 4 but didn’t play a single snap. In fairness, Brandon Staley didn’t do him any favors in Week 1 by putting him in single coverage with no help against Tyreek Hill. But with no sign of improvement and possibly his relationship with the coaches breaking down, the Chargers effectively gave up on him. Whether it was because of an issue of bad scheme fit, Jackson not giving his all after giving a payday, injuries slowing him down, or some combination of the above, the Chargers ended the saga and traded him away.
The Cap Impact
As mentioned, there was some reworking of Jackson’s contract to facilitate the trade. There was just over $10 million remaining for Jackson’s salary this year; New England took on $1.55 million of it, while the Chargers are eating the rest. That affords them enough room to add another cheap face to the cornerback room – which appears to be Essang Bassey, who they claimed off waivers (though that happened before the deal was in the books) – so unless they intend to add a second additional face, that will be the lone new face to the cornerback room.
The catch here beyond how 2023 shakes out is that, due to the re-workings of the contract, the Chargers will now eat around $20 million of dead money in 2024. The flip side of that is they’re free after that, not owing him anything for 2025-26, which would have been the final two years of his contract. It’s an unfortunate cap hit to take when 2024 is already looking crowded in that regard, but saving $1.55 million and having an out for 2025-26 is still a better deal than the Chargers would’ve gotten if they had just released him instead.
Information on the cap taken from Over the Cap.
The Impact on the Defense
Now the Chargers will revert more or less back to the cornerback lineup they had this year – sans Bryce Callahan in the slot, with Ja’Sir Taylor taking that place. Michael Davis and Asante Samuel Jr should remain the permanent starters now. The positive of this aspect is that it should mean more lineup consistency among the cornerbacks – which had been a problem early on, due in part to Jackson’s poor play causing repeated mid-game benchings.
Let us not forget that last year, the Chargers secondary was literally better without JC Jackson than with. While the difference hasn’t been as dramatic in the two games without Jackson this year, they are 2-0 without him. Make of that what you will.
It’s hard to see Essang Bassey having much of an impact on the Chargers – he’s been here before in 2021 (albeit briefly – two weeks), but he’s never been much more than a depth player whether with the Chargers or his other team, the Broncos. Deane Leonard is more likely to get the first crack at cornerback snaps if needed. But depending on how Leonard does, Bassey could end up in the rotation as well.
In Conclusion
The Chargers can now move on from J.C. Jackson and move ahead without a player that was effectively a liability, and possibly becoming a distraction. The dead cap hit over the next couple of years isn’t exactly pretty, but there was never going to be a perfect solution to that.
This won’t fix all the problems with the Chargers defense, but it’s a start – and one that was not expected to be made this quickly at that. There’s plenty to criticize Brandon Staley for lately, but being willing both to bench and cut loose a big-name player like that when it wasn’t working out deserves credit.
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
