With one week remaining until the deadline for teams to apply the franchise tag, the situation with the Patriots and top cornerback J.C. Jackson remains up in the air. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, it is unlikely the team will apply the tag, unless a trade partner can be found. 
[Related: No Talks Between Patriots, J.C. Jackson]
Without a tag-and-trade option on the table for the Patriots, Reiss “rate[s] the odds of them tagging Jackson as low”. It was reported one week ago that the two sides hadn’t held talks for a new deal after the team’s playoff elimination. That would continue a trend that points towards the 26-year-old finding a new home in free agency. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer recalls that during negotiations this past spring and fall, the two camps “weren’t in the same stratosphere” as each other.
For that reason, Breer concurs that New England’s likeliest usage of the tag – which will come in at a cost of $17.3MM – would be to facilitate a trade. If that kind of deal doesn’t materialize in the coming days, though, Jackson could become the next in a relatively long line of Patriots corners the team moves on from, rather than committing to with expensive second contracts.
Coming into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2018, Jackson leads the NFL in interceptions over the past four seasons with 25. That total – not to mention 53 pass deflections, three fumble recoveries and impressive coverage stats during that span as well – should earn him a sizeable new deal on the open market should he reach free agency. Breer estimates the acquisition cost for an interested team to be a second round pick, which would most likely be followed by a medium- to long-term financial commitment to Jackson.
With limited time still remaining for the Patriots to make a deal, either with Jackson or another team, this situation is set to come to a head – and shape the rest of the team’s offseason in the process – soon.
It would behoove the Patriots to re-sign Jackson, but I doubt that they want to break the bank for him. Jackson’s very good, but Belichick won’t shell out for a corner who is not a shut down level, trail the best receiver (or second best, as Belichick often does) type of player, especially one aged 26.
Jackson will end up as a good get for some team, though. He seems to want to maximize his value now, from the reports we’ve heard since last year, so I don’t think that it would be unexpected for him to end up on a lower level team with a lot of cap space.
Jackson always seems to have his best games against low tier opponents, like the Jets. He’s a solid corner but I understand why Bill is unwilling to give him big money.