3 potential landing spots for Commanders’ William Jackson after trade request

2. New England Patriots

Stop me if you’ve heard this before in the last 20 years, but Bill Belichick has the Patriots playing sound defensive football. Having said that, their cornerback rotation leaves a lot to be desired, which brings into question why they traded Stephon Gilmore, who’s currently thriving in Indianapolis, but that’s irrelevant here.

While Jonathan Jones is the NFL’s highest-graded corner in single coverage through five weeks, per PFF, the Patriots desperately need to equip him with a proper running mate as Jalen Mills owns a 32.6 coverage grade on the season. Third-stringer Myles Bryant hasn’t been much better with his 47.0 grade.

A move to New England and being coached up by Belichick might be exactly what Jackson needs to turn his career around after a dismal stint in the nation’s capital. We all know Belichick loves deploying man coverage. In fact, the Patriots ranked second in the NFL through Week 4 by playing man 48.2% of the time, per PFF.

Jackson would have to contend with Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Gabe Davis and Garrett Wilson in the AFC East, but nobody would turn their nose up at the idea of being coached by the greatest to ever do it.