In Bill We Trust?
Being a Patriots fan, you have heard the phrase, “In Bill we trust.” Any critical move the Patriots have done we always think Bill has something going on in the background to replace said player, he’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. But when is the slogan going to change too, what is Bill doing?
The cornerback position has evolved over the years in the NFL to being one of the most important roles on the defensive side of the ball. It’s a pass heavy league, the days of a running offense is long gone and Quarterbacks throw the ball 35 to 40 times a game. The Patriots have always had a top tier player at the corner back position, a guy that would be top 5 in the league and get ready for a big pay day only to be let walk in free agency. Ty Law, Asante Samuel, Aqib Talib, Brandon Browner, Darrelle Revis, Malcolm Bulter, Stephon Gilmore, and now JC Jackson. The thing with this list is there was always someone to be the next guy up, except in the case for JC Jackson, there is no one that could take his spot. Jalen Mills, JoeJuwan Williams, Myles Bryant, Sean Wade. These are our options at the position and I think I speak for everyone when I say, Yuck.
Bill always seems to let guys walk a year or two before they lose a step. Most of the guys above he was right on but JC Jackson is 25 years old. He is playing like a top 5 corner in the league, and to let him go for nothing is just not a great move for this team that is on the older side and could use draft assets to fill some holes on both side of the balls.
Has Bill finally lost a step? Bill is 69 years old (nice) and has been in the league since 1975, 47 years is a mighty long time and you can’t be great forever. It all started when Brady left 2 years ago and not having a back up plan for the position and relying on Cam to being the next guy up was his first L he’s taken as a Patriots head coach/GM. Is letting JC Jackson hit free agency and not having a back up plan his second L in 3 years? Time will obviously tell and we have a way to go till the start of the season. We still have free agency and the draft to address the need of a number 1 cornerback but as of today there is a huge black hole in the secondary with no one there to be the next guy.
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