3 reasons the Carolina Panthers shouldn’t re-sign Donte Jackson

With Donte Jackson placed on the season-ending injured/reserve, he might’ve played his last game with the Carolina Panthers.

The injuries keep on coming for the Carolina Panthers as their season is hanging on by a thread. The latest player to hit the season-ending injured reserve list is cornerback Donte Jackson, who joins Christian McCaffrey on the shelf during a rough start to the bye week.

Jackson, who is in the final year of his rookie deal and has had a history dealing with injuries, actually stayed pretty healthy this year, playing in all 12 games so far. However, that trend ended as the player suffered a groin injury at the Miami Dolphins.

The former LSU star was having a very strong first two months of the season, making his value for free agency a lot higher. But in the two games before his injury, Jackson was playing some of his worst football, getting torched by Washington Football Team receiver Terry McLaurin and Miami’s Jaylen Waddle.

The Panthers have struggled at solidifying the cornerbacks’ room since their Super Bowl season when they moved on from Josh Norman, and Jackson has been the most promising player they’ve had ever since.

However, due to Jackson’s injuries and inconsistency, Carolina has kept an open mind when it comes to the position, trading for C.J. Henderson and Stephon Gilmore this year. They also drafted Jaycee Horn in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

The case can be made that these moves were made to help Jackson. But it’s no secret that the Panthers front office is covering ground in case he leaves or isn’t re-signed in free agency.

With Jackson now out for the rest of the year, Carolina has more than three years of game footage to evaluate whether they want to bring him back.

Here are three reasons why they shouldn’t.