DeSean Jackson has come up in trade rumors for the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason and teams like the Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers Niners, Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings all could be in the mix for a deal of Chip Kelly opts to trade away one of his best receivers this offseason.
The Eagles have put together one of the best offensive units in the league under Kelly and bringing back both Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper will help that along and that is one reason why Jackson could be expendable. Jackson has been very productive in his Eagles career, but his attitude and maturity issues have always been a problem and Kelly reportedly wouldn't mind getting rid of Jackson if he had the chance due to those issues. Kelly, according to SI.com, has never been big on "smaller" receivers and with Jackson taking up a nice amount of cap money over the next three years with over $30 million, the team could look for a deal.
These rumors came up earlier in the offseason and they were mostly dismissed as just talk, but now, according to Pro Football Talk, Jackson is worried about getting traded and he also is worried about a potential release if a trade doesn't go through. Jackson is making $10.5 million this season and the report cites the fact that Kelly refused to comment on Jackson and on top of that, Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com writes that Jackson is "troubled" with the media reports about his future with the franchise and he is worried about the writing on the wall.
Last season Jackson had 82 catches for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns and while that is excellent production, Kelly knows that he has a great offense that players can adapt to and he won't be worried about getting rid of Jackson. Adding Darren Sproles in a trade with the Saints could potentially be huge for the Eagles and that is another reason why Jackson could be on the way out. Sproles will never exactly be able to replace Jackson if a trade were to go down, but he catches passes out of the backfield as good as anyone and he has been used as a wideout in certain sets with the Saints and that could carry over with the Eagles.
Another reason why a trade could go down has to do with the draft coming up in May, as the Eagles have just six picks in the draft and that could spark Kelly to make a move. Adding a number of draft picks for Jackson could be a very solid move for Kelly as he continues to build his team in year two and since the team has the 22nd pick in the draft, they could use some extra picks in the later rounds to make up for the fact that they are in the bottom half of rounds when they pick.
Teams like the Chiefs and Panthers could be motivated since they have a need at wide receiver, while the Niners have the picks to make a move. The Panthers missed out on Hakeem Nicks and ditched Steve Smith and now they could go after Jackson.
