Here’s how much Patriots will pay J.C. Jackson after trade, per report

The New England Patriots made a surprise trade with the Los Angeles Chargers to acquire J.C. Jackson earlier this week, and it ultimately won't cost Bill Belichick's team much to take a chance on the veteran cornerback.

It turns out the Chargers are footing most of the bill for Jackson's pay this season. ESPN's Field Yates reported Thursday that the Chargers paid Jackson a bonus of almost $8 million to help the trade go through. The Patriots, as a result, will pay Jackson just $1.55 million for the remainder of the season. The rest of the contract is not guaranteed.

Final accounting of the J.C. Jackson trade:

The Chargers paid Jackson a $7,77,777 bonus yesterday to facilitate the deal.

The Patriots will owe Jackson $1,555,556 for the rest of this season.

Jackson is under contract through 2026, with the final three years non-guaranteed.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 5, 2023

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Jackson signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Chargers during free agency in 2022. It's hard to imagine the Patriots keeping him for the rest of that contract, but they do have the rest of the year to figure out if there's any future with him beyond the 2023 season.

When healthy, Jackson can still be a serviceable cornerback. And the Patriots, given the injuries to Christian Gonzalez, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones and Jonathan Jones, need all the help they can get at cornerback. Myles Bryant and Shaun Wade could be the starting cornerbacks for Sunday's Week 5 game against the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium, which would be far from ideal.

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Jackson suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 7 last season. He returned for the Chargers' first two games this season but was a healthy scratch in Week 3. Jackson didn't play in Week 4, either, and he recently admitted to reporters that he's still not 100 percent healthy.

“That’s exactly what it is, I’m not 100 percent,” Jackson told reporters last week, via NFL.com. “I know that the doctors know that. I’m not 100 percent so I’m doing my best. We’re giving the team what they want. I’m doing my best and I don’t know what they expect me to do.”

Jackson practiced with the Patriots on Thursday, but whether he plays against the Saints this weekend remains unknown.