The Pittsburgh Steelers traded for cornerback William Jackson III in early November but sadly the team never got a chance to see the former first round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals play a single down since joining the team. In fact, Jackson barely practiced since arriving via a trade with the Washington Commanders and he technically ended the 2022 season the Reserve/Injured list.
On Monday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his end-of-season press conference and during it, he was asked about Jackson. Specifically, Tomlin was asked if Jackson had an injury after arriving in Pittsburgh or was it just a case of the same injury he had before being traded for. Additionally, Tomlin was asked about the team’s evaluation of Jackson since he was traded for as it relates to him possibly having a spot on the team moving forward.
“To be honest, I don’t have a lot of detail, man,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel about Jackson’s future. “I think he was on the field one day. There was a lot going on that day. I don’t know how much direct eyes I laid on him. I don’t have a lot of information in that regard. I don’t.”
Well, Tomlin really isn’t lying because as mentioned, Jackson barely practiced with the team since he arrived via a trade. He did have his 21-day practice window opened early last week, but he was never activated back to the 53-man roster from the Reserve/Injured list. Was it a back injury that kept Jackson sidelined all this time? Was it the same back injury that reportedly had him slowed earlier this season when he was still with the Commanders? It’s hard to say for sure, but that’s likely the case just the same.
So, what’s next with Jackson when it comes to his future? Well, with him scheduled to earn a base salary of $9.25 million in 2023, in addition to a March roster bonus of $2.5 million, Jackson might not be around much longer. His scheduled salary cap charge for 2023 is $12.75 million and there’s just no way the Steelers let that stick. In short, unless Jackson agrees to take a huge salary cut as part of a major contract adjustment, he’s likely to be cut before the start of the new league year in the middle of March.
Luckily for the Steelers, they won’t need to send the Commanders a draft pick as part of them trading for Jackson and that’s mainly due to him not playing any snaps since arriving. That draft pick the Steelers agreed to send to the Commanders was conditional in nature. In short, the team trading for Jackson cost them paying the remainder of his 2022 salary and that’s it. We’ll see how much longer he sticks on the roster now.
