Adoree’ Jackson reunites with Giants on one-year contract to end long free agency

The Giants and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson waited to reunite until neither side could deny it was in their mutual best interest.

Jackson, 28, is re-signing a one-year deal to return to the Giants for a fourth season, The Post confirmed.

He has been without a team since free agency opened in March, but was called into his old home Friday morning for a physical.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed but it is likely that Jackson will play to reach incentives on top of a base salary, according to general manager Joe Schoen’s track record of handling similar additions.

The corresponding transaction to open Jackson’s spot on the 53-man roster was not known.

The Giants tried moving on from Jackson, but they didn’t add a cornerback in free agency who survived cut day.

And their plans to draft one in the second round were spoiled when Kool-Aid McKinstry (Saints) and Kamari Lassiter (Texans) were picked before their turn.

Neither Cor’Dale Flott nor Nick McCloud seized the job vacated by Jackson as the outside starter opposite Deonte Banks.

Whether Jackson steps right back into the lineup by Sept. 8 against the Vikings or is eased into a rotation will be determined in practice.

Jackson played well in the first two seasons of the three-year, $39 million contract that he signed in 2021.

His play tailed off last season, when he was graded No. 117 out of 127 NFL cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus and key figures inside the organization were unhappy with his tackling.

But there is no doubt that Jackson upgrades the biggest weakness on the roster.

The Giants only had Banks, Flott, the versatile McCloud, and Tre Hawkins to play outside cornerback, with Dru Phillips and Isaiah Simmons exclusively working in the slot.

It was a young secondary that got torched in three total joint practices by the Lions and Jets.

Jackson is no stranger to the Dean Pees-influenced principles of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

In 2018-19, Jackson played corner for the Titans when Pees was defensive coordinator and Bowen was outside linebackers coach.

The Titans cut Jackson just as Bowens was promoted to defensive coordinator, however.

Schoen said Tuesday that he felt “good with” his No. 2 cornerback options but “if there’s an opportunity to upgrade there, we will.”

“That’s an important position when we’re making these trade calls or depth calls with other organizations,” Schoen said. “There’s not a lot of teams that have three good corners on their roster.”

So, the Giants turned to the familiar.

So did Jackson.

“I think it’s like when you and your girl are going through a tough time and everyone on the outside is looking for your downfall,” Jackson told The Post at the start of free agency. “The Giants are going to look for another corner and another team is going to look for a corner, which is me. If I come back, it’s all good. If I don’t, is it going to hurt? It will, but I know it’s a business.”

The Giants re-signed S Gervarrius Owens to the practice squad and cut LB K.J. Cloyd, who stood out with 16 tackles in the preseason finale.