Cornerback J.C. Jackson has revealed his ambition to stay on with the New England Patriots “for a long time.”
Jackson is currently in his fourth season with the Patriots and is set to become an unrestricted free agent next year. The Patriots did place a second-rounder tender on him in the offseason, which was worth $3.84 million.
Although there has been speculation as to whether the Patriots would be open to letting him walk in free agency, Jackson prefers to remain with the team for the long-term, which he touched on during a press conference on Friday ahead of the upcoming Week 12 home matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
“I love playing for the New England Patriots, playing under coach Belichick,” Jackson said. “I have grown as a football player since I've been here. I would say I’ve learned the game. I love it here.
“This is a place that brought me in, gave me a chance from day one. I would love to be a New England Patriot for a long time.”
As expected, Jackson is currently not interested in engaging in talks surrounding his contract situation but is rather keeping his focus on this season.
“I’m a football player, I’m not an agent,” Jackson said. “So when it comes to negotiating contracts, I’ll leave that up to my agent. I’ll let them deal with that stuff and I’ll just focus on football. That’s how I look at it. That’s how I control the situation.”
One may presume that the Patriots may be open to coming to terms with Jackson on a possible multiyear contract deal next year, especially after they elected to trade cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Carolina Panthers earlier in the season. But as the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport recently touched on, New England may be leaning towards instead placing the franchise tag on him.
Jackson leads the Patriots this season in interceptions with six. He has been targeted a notable 72 times in coverage but has only allowed 36 completions to go along with a potent 40.7 passer rating.
The Patriots sure will count on Jackson to once again lead the secondary in Week 12 against the Titans.
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