The Philadelphia Eagles have been strong in free agency to start 2014 and now DeSean Jackson trade rumors have started to dominate the team headlines and Chip Kelly could look to the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Chiefs , Carolina Panthers or New England Patriots as potential destinations to pull off a deal this offseason.
Talk of Jackson came up a couple weeks ago and it was dismissed as just that, but now things have started to take a turn and after Kelly refused to comment on the situation and other reports came out that Jackson was worried about his situation, this trade talk could turn real. According to ESPN.com, Jackson took some time to get used to the way Kelly does things and with his maturity and contract issues in the past, the Eagles could look to move him for draft picks, as Philly has less than most teams with six and moving Jackson could net a nice package of picks for the team to continue adding depth with.
CBS Sports did an evaluation of Kelly and his past teams and he often does not like wide receivers of Jackson's size and on top of that, he is taking up a nice chunk of the salary cap over the next few years because of his contract. Kelly could give himself more room to operate with a trade and on top of that, the Eagles brought back Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin and likely would be able to survive without Jackson in the lineup despite his production, which amounted to 82 catches for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns last season.
While it might seem counterintuitive to trade a player of Jackson's ability, Kelly showed that he deserves some latitude to make moves after the success he had on offense last season. Jackson could be a great pickup for a number of teams and ones like the Browns and the Raiders that have draft picks and cap space could be good fits. The Raiders just signed James Jones so they likely aren't looking for a receiver, but Jackson sure feels like he would be a fit in the black and silver.
Nick Foles had a great season last year and Jackson was a big part of that, but keeping Cooper and Maclin was huge and the Eagles could also look to the draft to make a move at WR. Foles had 2891 yards along with 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions and he is looking to get even better with a full season of starting coming up. The Chiefs could be a potential option, as Jackson would reunite with his old head coach in Andy Reid and they have a big need at wide receiver and after the Emmanuel Sanders deal fell through, they could look at a trade as a better option than what is left on the market.
Darren Sproles coming to the team changes everything, as he is basically a receiver out of the backfield and Kelly may feel that losing Jackson won't hurt as much with Sproles coming to the team in a trade with the Saints. Sproles has been fantastic as a pass catcher and Kelly loves that he led the league in yards after the catch over the past three seasons, beating out his own man in LeSean McCoy and that could help get this deal done down the line.