With trade for J.C. Jackson, Bill Belichick sends message that Patriots aren’t giving up

FOXBORO, Mass. — The news for the New England Patriots after Sunday’s blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys was somehow worse than the game itself. Their best player, edge rusher Matthew Judon, could miss the rest of the season after suffering a biceps injury that requires surgery. Their best young player, rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez, will probably miss the rest of the season after suffering a shoulder injury that will require surgery.

Those two are arguably the Patriots’ two most important players on defense — and perhaps the entire team. Now the Pats, without those two, are left to try to fix all that ails them after a 1-3 start and the worst loss of the Bill Belichick era.

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With that news, the Patriots were at a bit of a crossroads. They could lean into a rebuild and play their young players (for better or worse), welcoming the losses that might follow as learning moments, but celebrating the high draft pick that could come, too. Or they could embrace a nobody-believes-in-us attitude, acquire a player or two to backfill the positions where they’ve struggled with depth and injuries, and aim to make the 2023 season as successful as possible, chasing a playoff berth no matter how unlikely it seems at this juncture.

It should be no surprise which option Belichick chose. The Patriots won’t tank so long as he is the coach. So instead of rolling over and accepting a disappointing season, Belichick traded for veteran cornerback J.C. Jackson in a low-risk move that brings the 27-year-old back to the team where he starred, nabbing 25 interceptions from 2018 to 2021.

Report: Patriots make trade to bring back J.C. Jackson: https://t.co/6zyVNv1SQu

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 4, 2023

For the Patriots, it was a move born out of necessity, even if the price tag didn’t end up being too steep. They left Dallas with their top four cornerbacks injured. Gonzalez will likely miss the rest of the season. Marcus Jones (shoulder) will miss at least two more games, perhaps more. Jack Jones (hamstring) is eligible to be activated off injured reserve after missing the first four games. Jonathan Jones has missed the last three games due to an ankle injury he suffered during a Week 2 practice.

Since the goal is to turn around the team’s disappointing start to the season, they couldn’t afford to rely on the hodgepodge group of healthy cornerbacks they have. So the options were essentially signing a practice-squad player off another roster or making a trade.

This is where they got a bit lucky. Belichick prefers players he already knows when adding to his roster midseason. His defense is complex and what he asks is specific, so he has made a habit of reacquiring players with whom he’s already worked. To his good fortune, Jackson was on thin ice with the Chargers, who were looking for a reset after their decision to sign him to a five-year, $82.5 million deal quickly went bad.

Jackson played poorly in 2022 after a great season with the Pats in 2021. This season, he was a healthy scratch in Week 3 and didn’t play any defensive snaps in Week 4. Though it’s worth noting that while the team deemed Jackson healthy enough to play, he insisted last week he was not fully healthy.

So the Chargers wanted a fresh start, to move on from a free-agent signing that wasn’t working. Meanwhile, the Patriots were dealing with a rash of injuries at cornerback and were looking for options.

Again, this isn’t a wholly shocking move from Belichick. Many times before, he has brought back veterans who had success in New England, signed for big money elsewhere then needed a new team after some struggles. Patrick Chung, Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy are among the names that come to mind, and in many cases, he helped those players return to the highs they previously experienced with the Patriots.

But it is also fair to note just how bad Jackson was with the Chargers.

In 2021, his final season with the Patriots, Jackson was the third-best cornerback in the NFL, according to grading from Pro Football Focus. In 2022, the site graded him as the worst cornerback out of 136 in the league, though it’s worth noting his season ended early after he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee in Week 7.

This season, he hasn’t been much better. Despite an interception and three deflected passes in the opener, Jackson was made inactive for the team’s third game. He then vented afterward that he was “confused” by the coach’s decision and noted he’s not fully healthy.

But the Patriots are familiar with Jackson and helped bring out the best seasons of his career. They’re also desperate at cornerback, and so they decided a low-risk trade made sense. The deal means the teams will swap their 2025 sixth- and seventh-round picks. The Chargers are also picking up almost all of Jackson’s remaining guaranteed money, and his contract will be easy for the Patriots to restructure after this season.

For New England, it’s a move to take a chance on 2023. Maybe Jackson comes in and plays great, and they’ll have landed a premier player at an important position at a very cheap price. If he doesn’t, it’s not like they gave up a whole lot to take a flier on a guy they know well.

Either way, it sends an obvious message from Belichick: The Patriots aren’t giving up on this season.

(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)

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