Cleveland Browns pick-a-player: Adding one free agent from each AFC East team
By Nick Swanson
New England Patriots – J.C. Jackson, CB
This is the easiest pick in this division. The man who was responsible for more than 50 percent of the Patriots’ defensive turnovers last season, the man who led the NFL in interceptions for the first 13 weeks of the season, the man who finished with 12 total turnovers at the end of the season, J.C. Jackson.
The third-year standout from the University of Maryland played incredibly as the team’s number two corner. Jackson almost finished with the most interceptions in the league despite only having played 84 percent of defensive snaps for the Patriots. Jackson has experience playing as a slot corner and showed this past season how effective he can be on the outside.
Joe Woods would have a field day bouncing Jackson around in different packages, playing him outside, in the slot, or even in the box. Jackson’s versatility is what makes him such a valuable asset and is the reason he’s one of this year’s highly touted defensive players.
Jackson is far and away the best player in New England’s free-agent class this year and potentially played himself into a huge contract despite the salary cap being expected to go down by 11.2 percent, according to Over the Cap.