Getty Bengals former first-rounder William Jackson wants out of Washington.
The Pittsburgh Steelers brass had to wipe the foam away from their mouths before they picked up the phone to the Washington Commanders. A player they coveted in the 2016 NFL draft has requested a trade from his current Washington Commanders team and Pittsburgh “makes sense,” according to Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar.
Cornerback William Jackson, the Cincinnati Bengals’ former first-round draft selection, was taken one spot ahead of Steelers’ Artie Burns at No. 24. Jackson signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Commanders as a free agent in March 2021.
Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero, who first reported the news on October 13, said Jackson’s deal was front-loaded, and the Commanders have paid about half of it already. Pittsburgh would be on the hook for very little draft capital should it be the winner of the William Jackson sweepstakes.
If the Steelers trade for Jackson, he would count just $3.8 million against their salary cap, per the trio of NFL Network reporters. “He has a $5 million base overall this season, but six weeks of it are accounted for.”
Jackson is unhappy with the role he’s played in Washington’s scheme, and Rapoport tweeted that “his name has been at the center of trade talks” from several teams.
#Commanders CB William Jackson III prefers a new home and a new scheme. And his name has been at the center of trade talks.
Story with @MikeGarafolo and @TomPelissero:
Jackson is not frustrated specifically with the Commanders as much as the scheme in which they play. “He considers himself more of a man-to-man cornerback and Washington has run a lot of zone thus far,” Rapoport wrote. “When Jackson signed, he envisioned himself as a true lockdown corner, covering a team’s top receiver.”
Steelers Among Best Fits for Commanders’ William Jackson
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar believes Pittsburgh’s scheme makes it among the best fits for the disgruntled lockdown corner.
New on @TheNFLWire: Commanders cornerback William Jackson III, to nobody’s surprise, wants out of Washington. I identified five NFL teams who could use Jackson’s man/match/press expertise sooner than later.
“This makes sense for all kinds of reasons,” Farrar wrote. “The Steelers have played the most man coverage in the NFL on opponent dropbacks this season, with 68. While the Steelers lead the league with four interceptions in man coverage this season, they’ve also given up four touchdowns, and outside of Levi Wallace, none of their starting cornerbacks have been especially credible in man coverage. With Mike Tomlin looking for any port in a storm in a 1-4 season, perhaps this could be a thing.
“It was certainly a thing when Jackson was coming out of Houston in the 2016 draft, and the Bengals jumped ahead of the Steelers to take him when the Steelers were clearly interested. Pittsburgh took Artie Burns out of Miami with the 25th overall pick right after Cincinnati got Jackson with the 24th, and safe to say the Artie Burns era wasn’t an unmitigated success in Pittsburgh.”
Steelers’ Defensive Back Draft History
While in-season trades tend to be short-term rentals, the Pittsburgh Steelers could use William Jackson’s talent this year and beyond.
Cam Sutton, the team’s best cornerback in years, is a free agent in March 2023. Though it’s only a quarter of the way through the season, it’s safe to say that Levi Wallace hasn’t turned out to be the defender the Steelers were hoping.
Signing Jackson could save Pittsburgh from using a precious top-round pick on a cornerback, a position they’ve shown to be not great at evaluating at the college level.
The Steelers used their 2019 third-round pick on Justin Layne, who is all but officially gone after the 2022 season. 2017’s fifth-round pick Brian Allen appeared in 16 games before he was cut. Pittsburgh got burned after taking Artie Burns at No. 25, followed by Sean Davis at No. 58 in 2016. The team needed two corners because the two they selected in 2015 were Senquez Golson and Doran Grant.
The list of failed defensive back draftees is endless. History has proven that the Pittsburgh Steelers are better off adding a proven veteran to the roster than relying on the evaluation and draft process.