The LA Chargers went crazy in the spring of 2022. With the team all-in on Justin Herbert and Brandon Staley, the front office traded for Khalil Mack, re-signed Mike Williams to a huge deal and brought in the best cornerback on the market, JC Jackson.
Chargers fans were ecstatic about this signing and what it could mean for Staley's defense. Unfortunately, the plane never left the tarmac as Jackson's tenure with the Chargers was a major disappointment.
Jackson struggled in his first season with the team, suffering a torn patellar tendon in Week 7 against the Seattle Seahawks. After returning in 2023, Jackson single-handedly cost the Chargers the game in Week 1, was a healthy scratch in Week 3 and did not play a snap in Week 4.
Now, he is back with the New England Patriots after a trade for late-round draft swaps. Less than two years later and the Jackson signing has been rendered an absolute failure: but where does it stack up compared to other bad moves in Chargers history?
Ranking the 5 worst free-agent signings in Chargers history:
5. WR Robert Meachum (four-year, $25.9 million in 2012)
Chargers fans who remember the 2013 playoff team that limped into the playoffs and somehow beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card Round will remember one of the worst receiving corps that Philip Rivers ever head. Yet the future Hall of Fame quarterback still won Comeback Player of the Year, making every fan wonder what could have been if the team actually had WR depth behind a rookie Keenan Allen.
The team would have had receiver depth if their big splash the year prior would have panned out. The 2012 WR room was even worse for the Chargers as the team was committing to Robert Meachum to play a big role. The Chargers signed him to a four-year deal just under $26 million, which was a lot of NFL money for 2012's standards.
Meachum's contract ended up having more millions of dollars in it than receptions he would have as a Charger. The former Saint lasted just one season with the Bolts and made 14 catches for 207 yards. It is not like he was hurt, either, as he played 15 games for the Bolts that season!
Meachum would return to the Saints in 2013 after he failed to make the Chargers' 53-man roster in training camp.
4. OT Jared Gaither (four-year, $24.6 million in 2012)
The 2012 offseason was a pretty bad one for the Chargers. Not only did the team overpay for a receiver who was not even an elite weapon on the Saints to begin with but the team also hitched its wagon to an unproven tackle because he did okay in a small sample size.
There is probably a good reason why this would be AJ Smith's last offseason as the general manager of the Chargers. The Bolts would go on to finish the 2012 season with a 7-9 record, leading Smith to get the boot alongside head coach Norv Turner.
At least with Meachum, there was some kind of vision there. The Gaither signing made absolutely no sense when it happened and the results of the deal should have been extremely predictable. Gaither was a backup tackle who played five games for the Bolts in 2011. It isn't like he was a homegrown developmental tackle, either, as Gaither was waived by the Kansas City Chiefs earlier that season.
Marcus McNeill would retire after the 2011 season and the Chargers thought Gaither was the guy to replace him. That netted Gaither a four-year deal that was pretty sizeable for 2012 standards only for him to play four games for the Chargers over the course of the contract. He played more the previous year when he was a backup!
Like Meachum, the Chargers released Gaither ahead of the 2013 season as a young Tom Telesco looked to start over and fix Smith's mistakes.
3. OT Bryan Bulaga (three-year, $30 million in 2020)
Bryan Bulaga and Gaither are similar signings when you consider what the team paid versus what the team got in terms of production. You could flip-flop the two selections and it really comes down to personal preference. The Bulaga signing definitely made more sense when it happened whereas it was impossible to spin the Gaither signing as a good one when it happened.
Gaither's downfall was predictable while Bulaga's injuries in LA were unfortunate. It was not necessarily the Chargers' fault that Bulaga did not work out but that doesn't mean that it was a good signing.
At the end of the day, Bulaga gets the nod as the Chargers were paying him almost twice as much per season to protect the new franchise quarterback. Bulaga was unable to do that and in his first year in the NFL, Justin Herbert was faced with extreme pressure that honestly should have derailed his NFL career.
Bulaga was in and out of his first season with the team, playing in 10 total games but not playing well in them because of his injuries. This carried over into his second season, where Bulaga would play the first half of Week 1 against the Washington Commanders.
The veteran tackle was taken out of the game at halftime and would not be seen again for the rest of the 2021 season, leaving Storm Norton to start at right tackle. The Chargers eventually released Bulaga before the 2022 season.
2. WR David Boston (seven-year, $47 million in 2003)
In AJ Smith's last-ever offseason, he signed Meachem and Gaither to two horrible deals that would ultimately seal his fate after the 2012 season. In his first-ever offseason, Smith made an even worse signing as he signed controversial wide receiver David Boston to a seven-year contract.
The Chargers having that run in the mid-to-late 2000s really masked some of the terrible moves that Smith made as a GM. He is extremely lucky that Eli Manning didn't want to be a Charger and that the previous regime drafted one of the best running backs of all time, LaDainian Tomlinson.
All the signs were there for Boston to be a horrific signing. Just from a football standpoint, Boston missed the second half of the 2002 season and finished the year with just over 500 receiving yards. The concerns off the field were even worse. Jackson was charged with a misdemeanor DUI after traces of marijuana and cocaine were found in his blood.
Yet the Chargers opened the checkbook anyway and signed the wide receiver to a seven-year contract. His off-the-field issues would continue and the Chargers eventually parted ways by trading him to the Miami Dolphins.
The Jackson signing was not as bad as the Boston signing when it happened. Fans were excited for Jackson, whereas Boston's downfall was as predictable as it comes. The Chargers are more to blame for the Boston signing blowing up than the Jackson signing blowing up.
However, at the very least, the Chargers got one productive season out of Boston as he finished the 2003 season with 880 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in only 14 games. The Chargers didn't get anything close to that with Jackson. Which leads us into our final spot.
1. CB JC Jackson (Five-year, $82.5 million in 2022)
It isn't recency bias. JC Jackson is the worst signing of Chargers history and could ultimately be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Tom Telesco. If the Chargers fall short of winning at least one playoff game in 2023 then there is a good chance that Telesco and Brandon Staley will be canned, leaving Jackson as the GM's lasting legacy.
A lot of Chargers fans are playing hindsight general manager after this signing blew up in the team's face but the reality is that most of the fanbase was over the moon for Jackson. Sure, there were a handful of people who were concerned about paying a cornerback this much, but the overwhelming majority supported this signing.
That is what makes it so disappointing. There was never a good moment with Jackson. After an offseason full of hype, Jackson decided to have surprise surgery on his ankle (which wasn't bothering him before) right before the start of the 2022 season. That should have been the first red flag.
This delayed his Chargers debut and when he eventually did play he was awful. Jackson was terrible against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, letting up the most consequential defensive touchdown of the game.
He was inactive again the following week, returned and played okay against a bad Texans and Browns team before getting benched at halftime on primetime against the Denver Broncos. Then he came back against Seattle, was getting torched, and ruptured his patellar tendon.
Hats off to Jackson for making a speedy recovery but it does not change how poorly he played to start 2023. He is the reason why the Chargers lost in Week 1 to the Dolphins. This team would be 3-1 right now if it was not for Jackson.
Jackson finished his Chargers career with just one interception and ironically enough, it still burned the team as he tried to play hero and take it out of the end zone instead of kneeing it. This gave the Chargers horrible field position, made them punt against Miami and set up a one-play touchdown drive where Tyreek Hill just ran a straight line right past Jackson.
The perfect metaphor for JC Jackson's tenure with the Chargers.