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.
Donte Jackson has been inconsistent for the Carolina Panthers
Since being drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Donte Jackson has had quite the up-and-down journey with the Carolina Panthers. The cornerback always had the speed and swagger that teams love in a player, but it took him a while to fully adjust to the game.
As a rookie, Jackson led all first-year players with four interceptions and has continued to be an interception machine. He has 10 in four campaigns and knows how to make big plays.
However, he also is prone to give up many big plays.
No cornerback is perfect but Jackson hasn’t proven that he can be a week-in and week-out shut-down presence. Hence the moves to bring in Jaycee Horn and Stephon Gilmore in recent months.
Jackson could be having a great game, but one big play allowed is usually what has burned him. Something that we’ve seen plenty of the two weeks before he suffered his season-ending injury.
This season has easily been the best of Jackson’s career. However, his past two showings against Terry McLaurin and Jaylen Waddle prove that he just isn’t a guy you can give such a big contract.
One also has to consider that Gilmore and other prominent players also want to be paid this offseason. A task Carolina might not be able to do if they give a boatload of money to Jackson.
That leads us to the next reason.
Donte Jackson’s asking price might be too high for the Carolina Panthers
Even though he’s been inconsistent, Donte Jackson hasn’t been bad. He’s still young, is extremely fast, and has had big moments in pivotal stages of games.
However, as Jackson has said time and time again, he believes he’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league and feels he should be paid like one.
He might have lost some money with his play the past few weeks and his ongoing injury troubles. But there will be a team that gives Jackson close to what he wants given that top cornerbacks are at a premium across the league.
Currently, Jalen Ramsey is the highest-paid cornerback in the league, averaging $20 million per year. The tenth highest paid is Marcus Peters at $14 million per season.
Jackson will likely want a deal averaging somewhere be $14 and $20 million per year, which is a tough ask for a Carolina Panthers team that already has so much outstanding dead money.
The Panthers also will have to make decisions on whether to give that money to Stephon Gilmore. If not, they still have young cornerbacks in C.J. Henderson and Jaycee Horn, who will be under team control for a few more years.
With those two cornerbacks alone, Jackson might be expendable. And letting him walk would free up funds to strengthen other areas.
Carolina Panthers can’t rely on Donte Jackson’s health
The whole reason this piece is even being written right now is that Donte Jackson is out for the rest of the year with a groin injury. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, complications staying on the field have become the story more often than not for the fourth-year pro.
Jackson played in all 16 games as a rookie but hasn’t been able to stay on the field for every game since. Something that is undoubtedly going to come into the discussion when it’s time for the Carolina Panthers to decide whether or not the corner is deserving of a lengthy and lucrative extension.
Last season, Jackson dealt with an ongoing turf toe injury that affected his play and caused him to miss four games. This preceded another groin injury that had him miss three games in 2019.
Once again, Jackson is hindered by a groin injury that will now cause him to have only played in 12 of 17 games this season. And as the old saying goes, the “best ability is availability” when it’s all said and done.
To give a player so much money with an already long injury list is a huge gamble, one Carolina already made with Christian McCaffrey that hasn’t paid off as yet. The Panthers might have more luck trying to draft another cornerback, signing a veteran, or going with the young guys they already have.