When the Los Angeles Chargers signed J.C. Jackson in the spring of 2022, they thought they were adding a franchise cornerback to a championship nucleus. Jackson was supposed to be their missing piece, the final and glorious chain link.
He was anything but.
Not only did Jackson miss 14 of his 22 Chargers games due to injury, but he was also outright benched twice. In the rare instances where Jackson did feature for L.A., he resembled one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks, routinely hanging the Chargers’ defense out to dry by getting burned over and over. According to ESPN’s Kris Rhim, Jackson apparently seldom took accountability for his poor play, usually approaching team events without a “sense of urgency.” Eventually, the Chargers and general manager Tom Telesco cut bait on Jackson, trading him back to the New England Patriots.
It only grew more awkward after Jackson was gone. Once he was traded away, Telesco reportedly spoke to the team’s defensive backs, apologizing for signing the cornerback and for giving him way too many opportunities to redeem himself. While I’m sure they appreciated the executive’s forthcoming honesty, that is one brutal way to put a bow on a massive free agency blunder.
It was Week 6, the group’s first meeting since the Chargers traded cornerback J.C. Jackson to the New England Patriots for a swap of late-round picks, just over a year after signing him to a five-year $82.5 million contract in March of 2022. Telesco stood in front of the group and began to apologize.
Telesco told the group that signing Jackson was a mistake, according to multiple team sources. He apologized for continuing to give Jackson opportunities, despite Jackson routinely showing that he wasn’t as committed as the rest of the team while being one of the Chargers’ highest paid players.
Telesco called the move a “swing and a miss.”
The Chargers are still feeling the effects of missing on Jackson badly.
Without a real franchise cornerback in place, Brandon Staley’s unit ranks just 25th in total passing defense and is only 29th in expected points added (EPA) per play, per RBDSM.com. Jackson isn’t entirely to blame, but he certainly didn’t help matters. It goes to show you that nothing is a sure thing in NFL free agency — even with players who resemble All-Pro talents when you acquire their services.