New York Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, an impending free agent, isn’t likely to be back with Big Blue in 2024.
That is unless he believes the Giants are ready to compete for a Super Bowl.
“I want to win a Super Bowl, and I know the Giants are capable of winning because we saw [in the 2022 playoff run] that it was a possibility. It boils down to the pieces and the staff being on the same page and doing the right thing to help us get there,” Jackson told the New York Post.
But Jackson could be a victim of the salary cap. The Giants have very little wiggle room to work with this March and plenty of holes to fill and upgrade. Jackson could be seen as a luxury after adding two promising young corners — Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins III — last year in the draft.
Jackson wants to return to the Giants but he knows with a new defensive coordinator, his role would likely be changing.
That new coordinator is Shane Bowen, who knows Jackson very well from their time together in Tennessee. It’s not clear if Bowen is lobbying the Giants to keep Jackson or telling them to move on.
“The Giants are going to look for another corner and another team is going to look for a corner, which is me,” said Jackson. “I want to be there, but this is our break period. Technically, I’m not on the team, but my locker is still in the facility, and I go over there when I stay out [in New Jersey].”
Jackson, who was grossly overpaid by former Giants general manager Dave Gettleman, who signed him to a three-year, $39 million deal in 2021, actually played well the past several seasons under coordinator Wink Martindale.
Pro Football Focus graded Jackson 15th out of 116 corners in 2021 and No. 31 out of 118 last season. He can still play.
“If I come back, it’s all good. If I don’t, is it going to hurt? It will, but I know it’s a business,” Jackson said on Radio Row at the Super Bowl last week.
“At the same time, I know what I can do and the services that I bring to an organization — not just on the field, but being a locker-room presence and different things around the community. I’m hopeful [to be back], but you can never put anything past anybody.”
The only way Jackson returns is on a team-friendly deal and there’s not a whole lot of that going on in the NFL these days, especially to return to a 6-11 team.
