DeSean Jackson is a free agent and now the teams that were connected to the Philadelphia Eagles WR in trade rumors could be his next destination, as the Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, NY Giants and Cleveland Browns all could be potential fits after Chip Kelly and the team opted to cut the WR after weeks of speculation that he would be traded.
The move was stunning after he made the Pro Bowl last season, but it was not shocking after the reports came out that the Eagles were listening to trades for the WR from teams and names like the Jets, 49ers and Oakland Raiders were all connected. At first many felt the issues regarded his high contract, which costs $10.5 million heading into next season, but reports from NJ.com and other websites cited his off the field issues and behavior, including possible connections to members of gangs and now Kelly and the team are content with moving on without him on the roster.
Kelly has made some moves earlier in the offseason that softens the blow of this, as he has signed back Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper and the team also pulled off a trade for Darren Sproles, which could actually make this deal a wash for the Eagles. Now obviously Sproles is not the same player that Jackson is and he is an RB and not a receiver and does not have the explosivness of Jackson, but Kelly is all about numbers and being smart and he knows that Jackson's production can be made up. Last season Jackson had a career best 82 catches for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns and now that he is gone, Kelly will need to make up that production somewhere and expect Sproles to be used early and often next season. The team sees Maclin returning to form after an ACL injury and Kelly could also look to the draft to get another WR at a much cheaper price and a name like Brandin Cooks could be available and he had 128 catches and 16 touchdowns last season and is similar in size to Jackson.
Jackson is coming onto the market after being a second round pick from Cal years ago and he signed a five-year, $51 million contract in 2012 and now is on the market and teams like the Raiders, Browns and Dolphins have the cap space to sign him. If the Fins trade Mike Wallace, as they have been rumored, they could sign Jackson to team with Brian Hartline, while the Browns could have one of the best receiving tandems in the league with Josh Gordon. The Niners could use another wideout, while the Giants could compliment Victor Cruz with a player they know all too well in Jackson, who has killed them over the years.
Jackson had $30 million on his contract and coupled with the issues Kelly had with him, a split was almost certain and now once he hits the market, he should be targeted by a number of teams. The Eagles now could look to the draft for a WR, as the draft has a big class of names like Kelvin Benjamin, Marqise Lee, Allen Robinson and Brandin Cooks.
