FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday’s deadline to assign the franchise tag came and went with the New England Patriots passing on the opportunity to use it on cornerback J.C. Jackson, whose 25 interceptions are tied with Lester Hayes and Everson Walls for the most by a player in his first four NFL seasons since 1970.
The tag would have been $17.3 million for 2022, and while the possibility was obviously considered to some degree, it never seemed like a realistic option.
This clears a path for Jackson to experience unrestricted free agency beginning Monday. That is when his agent, Neil Schwartz, can begin negotiating with other clubs, and Jackson is expected to cash in.
He’s earned the chance to do so. Entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018, he has made a total of $5.1 million. Now, a new deal averaging $15-20 million per season could be within his grasp. And as Patriots fans have learned, Jackson doesn’t let too many of those opportunities slip away.
Thus, the Patriots should be prepared to lose their promising ball hawk, which sparks several questions:
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Why not use the franchise tag? One might say the simple answer is that coach Bill Belichick doesn’t view Jackson as a $17.3 million per year player. And if another team does, or even exceeds that number, that’s the business of free agency.
The Patriots have $13.7 million in cap space, according to Roster Management. So if they had assigned Jackson the franchise tag, they would have had to be prepared to create space by March 16, the official start of the 2022 league year.
Doable, but not ideal — especially if they don’t view him as worth such a rich salary, which seems to be closer to the heart of the issue.
How did it get to this point? The Patriots attempted to sign Jackson to an extension during the 2021 season,…
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