BREAKING: Patriots acquire JC Jackson from the Los Angeles Chargers

On Wednesday, the New England Patriots acquired an old friend in JC Jackson from the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a late-round pick swap. This was a nice bit of news to see on Wednesday morning. Jackson, a stud CB for the Patriots from 2018-2021, has reunited with his old team.

Jackson, 28 in November, signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2022 NFL offseason after four excellent years with the New England Patriots. In his first stint with the Pats, Jackson had 25 interceptions and 53 passes defended. He was truly a shut-down cornerback with New England.

In 2020 and 2021, he had 17 interceptions and 37 passes defended, which is insane production. He missed most of the 2022 season with the Chargers with a pretty serious injury and was already made a healthy scratch by Los Angeles. After just seven games with the Chargers through a year and a quarter, Jackson had just one interception and five passes defended.

His drop in production seemed to be due to his skillset not translating over to a new defensive scheme, and the Chargers decided to pull the plug on this total dud of a free agent signing. Jackson currently has a $17 million cap number in 2023, and signed an $82.5 million contract with the Chargers.

As early as this coming offseason, New England could get out of his contract. I don't think they will, though. The move was obviously made because the Pats' CB room has been decimated by injuries, and stud rookie CB Christian Gonzalez looks to be out indefinitely.

Jackson is likely stepping in immediately into a starting role with the Patriots. The Pats don't seem to be going anywhere in 2023, but the move itself makes sense, especially when you consider how cheap the Pats reunited with their former CB1.