Well the Eagles stepped to the front of the line today with the signing of Desean Jackson to a 5 year – $51m contract with $15m guaranteed. My question is how do you feel about it? Frankly, I have very mixed emotions. As a season ticket holder that pays my hard earned money to go to Lincoln Financial Field every week I blame Jackson for the failure of the 2011 season.  Obviously, I wasn’t at practice or team meetings or in the Nova Care Complex every day, but apparently neither was Jackson. For Head Coach Andy Reid to suspend Jackson, his conduct had to be bad and ongoing. You don’t mess up one time and get suspended. Jackson missing the Arizona Cardinals game that the Eagles had to win but lost to the Arizona Cardinals, 21-17, at home, that was the final dagger in the heart of the Birds, dropping their record to 3-6 and pretty much out of the playoffs. I know that many fans will say that the Eagles still had the lead after three quarters and should’ve still won. You may be right but they didn’t. You can blame the defense and I’ll blame their most explosive offensive weapon who was home sitting on the sofa. In the final 7 games after his return Jackson contributed 29 catches for 458 yards and 2 touchdowns with “0” 100 yard games.

My final problem with Desean Jackson is what appeared to be lack of effort. I’m not talking about what was shown on national TV when they isolated on him and showed him not working hard. I’m talking about what I saw from my seat each week. There was far more lack of effort than what the TV showed. Every fan wants the Eagles to win, me included, so we can win that elusive Super Bowl and Jackson took that chance away from us in 2011 because he acted like an immature baby because he didn’t get his money when he wanted it.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with pro athletes making their money, they are tremendous athletes.  I do expect them to work their butts off to win for their team, the fans, the organization and the entire city. If that’s too much to ask they should go find a job like the rest of us and buy a ticket to the games.

With that said, I think Jackson is an outstanding player. He’s the game breaker the Eagles haven’t had in a long time, if ever. He’s already been to 2 Pro Bowls and finished last season with 58 receptions for 961 yards and 4 TD’s, even under the circumstances discussed above. The 961 yards give him 2 – 900+ yard seasons and 2 – 1050+ yard seasons in his four year career and he’s only 25 years old.

The Eagles organization seems to have forgiven Desean and obviously have no hard feelings. “We are thrilled to be able to keep one of the NFL’s top playmakers in Philadelphia,” Andy Reid said in a news release. “Desean is a game breaker, he has the speed and ability to score from anywhere on the field, and he has proven himself to be a big threat in our offense.”

I think Jackson was the best option in the market. If he plays the way he’s capable of playing and does everything required on the practice field the Eagles made a wise choice.

What do you think?

TIMES YOURS!

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