From theAthletic
J.C. Jackson walks into the Chargers facility in Costa Mesa, Calif., on March 17, 2022, days after he agreed to terms on a
five-year, $82.5 million free-agent contract. Jackson greets Brandon Staley in the coach’s corner office overlooking the practice fields. The two share a dap and a hug, Staley grinning ear to ear.
“What’s up, brother?” Staley says. “How you been, man?”
Staley walks over to his desk and grabs a Chargers-branded notebook. He starts flipping through.
“I still got my notes on you, man,” Staley says to Jackson. “We took like 10 pages worth of notes on you because we watched every game for like four years. But if you’d have been here with us, with us breaking you down, this is what I got on J.C. Jackson.”
Staley looks up.
“Long. Contested passes. Feels big against big wide receivers,” he says. “Can close, bail, cushion, race. Plays well in and out of phase. Knows when to turn and how to turn.”
Staley continues reading from the notebook.
“Physical tackle in the catch. Strong. Puts his body on people. He travels with elite players —
(Mike) Evans,
(Amari) Cooper,
CeeDee Lamb,
(Stefon) Diggs,
(Brandin) Cooks. Right? Elite bump-and-run player. Inch technique, but he does get his hands on you. Stays connected on the top of the routes. Push-offs don’t bother this guy. Strong tackler. Durable, young, championship player. Must have this guy.”
From must have to must get rid of.
Not even 19 months later, Jackson is gone. According to team sources, the Chargers are trading Jackson to the
New England Patriots, where he spent the first four seasons of his career. The compensation is a late-round pick swap. The Chargers are sending a 2025 seventh-round pick and Jackson to the Patriots for a 2025 sixth-round pick, according to
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. The deal is expected to become official Thursday at 1 p.m. PT.
This is the Chargers cutting ties with one of the worst free-agent signings in recent
NFL history. And let’s get that out of the way first: General manager Tom Telesco and Staley deserve some credit for not falling victim to the sunk cost fallacy. They determined it was not working out with Jackson, and they made the move to remove him from the team, recouping what they could in draft compensation and financial flexibility.
How much the Chargers save on the 2023 cap depends on how much of Jackson’s salary they end up converting to a signing bonus. (According to
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Chargers are converting the “great majority” of his remaining salary, but the exact number isn’t yet known.)
The Patriots will take on $1.5 million of Jackson’s salary, according to Over the Cap. Jackson had $9.33 million in base salary remaining for 2023 — 14 of his 18 game checks. That difference is $7.83 million. If the Chargers converted all of that to a signing bonus, it will be prorated over four seasons — 2023 to ’26. That would equate to $7.37 million in savings this season. If they decide to convert less of the difference into a signing bonus and instead pay out Jackson in some form of lump sum bonus, that would decrease the savings this year.
The Chargers will be on the hook for at least $15 million in dead money for Jackson in 2024 — the remaining prorated amount of his initial $25 million signing bonus. That dead money charge would be more if the Chargers converted most of his salary into a signing bonus, up to $20.87 million. It would be less if they paid out a different type of bonus.
The practical difference is not overly significant. If the Chargers created the space for 2023, that would give them additional room to make in-season trades or signings. But they would most likely roll over most of that new space into 2024, which teams can do with unused space. The Chargers are around $30 million over the projected cap for 2024.
There are layers here, of course. But if you want to track this downward spiral to one moment, it was when Jackson decided to have
minor surgery on his ankle in late August 2022.
Jackson was performing well in training camp. He was coming off two of his best days of the summer when the Chargers hosted the
Dallas Cowboys for joint practices. Staley said Jackson “played beautifully” over those two days. The Chargers played the Cowboys in a preseason game at SoFi Stadium that Sunday. Two days later, on Tuesday, the Chargers announced that Jackson had undergone ankle surgery at the New York Hospital for Special Surgery. They estimated a return to play of two to four weeks.
“A very minor procedure,” Staley said Aug. 24, a day after the surgery. “More for comfort, more than anything. It’s not a structural problem. There’s no injury.”
“That’s what he wanted to do,” Staley added. “And we supported that.”
Jackson’s Chargers tenure was all downhill from here.
The Chargers were not getting the focus they needed out of Jackson day to day.
They faced perhaps the best receiver in the NFL, the
Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, in Week 3. These were the matchups Staley was visualizing when the Chargers signed Jackson — “He travels with elite receivers.” Staley, though, decided to make Jackson a healthy scratch for the game. It was a challenge of sorts. If Jackson was not responding to the constant coaching and communication, would he respond to a rather public punishment?
The answer to that question is evident in the trade.
A warrant for Jackson’s arrest was issued in Massachusetts on the Monday after the Vikings win for a failure to appear in court the previous Friday. Jackson was in uniform for Sunday’s win over the Raiders. He did not play. He was dealt away three days later.
When asked Monday whether Jackson would have a chance to work his way back onto the field, Staley said, “Everything is week to week in the NFL.”
The J.C. Jackson era in Los Angeles is over — before it really even started, and without any of Staley’s scouting notes coming to life on the field.
