Washington soccer team signs former Bengal corner William Jackson III, by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that it will be a $ 42MM three-year deal with $ 26MM guaranteed money.
This places Jackson in the top-10 of the corner market in terms of AAV. The first time in 2016 proved himself to be a strong cover during his first few years in the league, and although he has yet to make a Pro Bowl, he may receive the honors in the near future. He missed his entire rookie campaign due to injury and started just five games in his second professional season, but from 2017-20 he defended 41 passes and scored three picks, and as Pro Football Focus’ 20th best CB ( out of 121 heats) last season.
He will serve as a worthy replacement for Ronald Darby – who yesterday agreed to a free agent agreement with the Broncos – and will cooperate Kendall Fuller to provide WFT with a strong starting tandem at the angular position. The club has been tremendously on pace this past season, so maintaining a good 1-2 pass at the borders was an important part of its push for rugby matches.
Although Jackson had previously expressed a desire to stay in Cincinnati for the long term, the writing was on the wall when the club agreed to sign Mike Hilton and Chidobe Awuzie earlier today. Jackson is probably better than both players, but the combined AAV of Hilton and Awuzie is about the same as that of Jackson, so the Bengals saw the chance to get two entrees for the price of one.
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