When the Eagles released DeSean Jackson after the 2013 season, it was a decision made for plenty of reasons, but at the top was fit. Jackson did not fit with what then-head coach Chip Kelly was trying to build.
Now, five years later, Jackson is back — and both the timing and fit couldn't be better for the Eagles.
By acquiring Jackson for essentially nothing (a 2019 sixth-round pick), the Eagles are not only filled their biggest need on the field on the first day of legal tampering, but they also took a big step in making sure their main goal for 2019 — getting a big year out of quarterback Carson Wentz — happens.
On the field, Jackson is a perfect complimentary piece to the Eagles' current offensive weapons. Part of the issue the Eagles had on offense last season was opposing defenses did not respect their ability to get the ball down the field, which shrunk the space that Wentz had to work with. The result was plenty of short passes over the middle to tight end Zach Ertz, and plenty of crossing routes to both Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor.
Jackson, and his league-leading 18.9 yards-per-catch last season, should solve that problem. Jackson doesn't have to catch bomb-after-bomb to be successful. His mere presence should improve the Eagles' offense, as opposing defenses will have to respect Jackson running deep. One of the best deep threats in league history, Jackson has led the NFL in yards-per-catch three of the last five seasons, and four times overall in 11 seasons. His reputation alone, and the Eagles simply sending him deep, will improve this offense. He will make life easier for Ertz over the middle and he was take pressure off of Alshon Jeffery on the other side. Assuming he is back, receiver Nelson Agholor's life in the slot should be easier as well.
The timing of this deal off-the-field feels right as well.
More than anything in 2019 the Eagles need to solidify the quarterback position. They need Wentz to return to the player he was in 2017, when he was a top-five quarterback. Drafting an elite prospect at receiver is a path the Eagles could have chosen, but there was some risk involved in that, as there is with any draft pick. Signing a player like John Brown, arguably the best deep threat available at wide receiver, is another way the Eagles could have addressed the receiver position, but even Brown would not have brought the same kind of threat Jackson will to the offense.
If the goal for the 2019 offseason was to make life easier for Wentz, Jackson is perhaps the perfect receiver to bring on this team to do just that.
Of course, Jackson is and always will be a complicated figure in this city. The issues he had off-the-field during his first stint in Philly is likely why the team has not brought him back sooner, passing on him as a free agent two years ago and not acquiring him at the deadline last season. The Eagles are a much different team now than they were under Kelly, however. Head coach Doug Pederson has built a very strong culture inside the NovaCare, led by strong veteran leaders and a locker room that genuinly enjoys playing for Pederson. The Eagles are betting that they are getting a more mature Jackson this time around, and not the player that made Kelly want to release him in 2013.
The bet, for this team at this moment, is one worth taking.
And if it works out, Jackson could end up being one of the best acquisitions any team will make this offseason.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
