Not too long ago, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton tried to recruit a superstar player by the name of J.C. Jackson.
Fast forward to now, there’s allegedly some smoke there.
Allegedly, because Boardroom’s Jordan Schultz reported the Bengals are one of a handful of teams interested in Jackson as he avoids the franchise tag and hits the open market of free agents. The other teams are the Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.
This one, though, requires a huge grain of salt in large part because of the sheer money Jackson will command on the open market.
Jackson leads all corners in picks (22) since 2019 and had eight of them last year while grading as one of the best corners in football. He’s made it pretty clear he wants to be the top-paid corner in football.
Making Jackson the top-paid corner in the league would mean the Bengals give out a bigger contract than they’ve ever doled out before.
So while it’s true they paid big money for Trae Waynes a few years ago and will likely cut him this offseason, and while it’s true they need help at the position, paying Jackson what he wants would mean sacrificing upgrades elsewhere — likely including the offensive line.
Granted, if the Bengals take some of the money earmarked for a Jessie Bates extension and give it to Jackson instead, this might make more sense.
The Bengals undoubtedly have at least some interest in Jackson, but they’re unlikely to actually make that big of a splash. Keep in mind the Bengals will also be leverage targets of free agents and their reps who want big money with other teams now that the Cincinnati front office has been a big spender for a few years.
Barring a historic stunner by the franchise, the Bengals won’t be fully invested in any sort of sweepstakes for Jackson.
