DeSean Jackson spent the first six years of his career with the Eagles. The Eagles released the star wide receiver on Friday. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
The Philadelphia Eagles and DeSean Jackson finally parted ways after weeks of speculation on Friday afternoon. There were many different avenues for the Eagles to take.
This was the ultimatum.
On the surface, especially to the fans, this is a bad move. Of course it hurts the offense and future production. Of course this creates a greater hole in the Eagles offense when they still have holes to fill on defense. From a team-on-paper standpoint, this was the worst news.
But this news was honestly overdue. From the start, my first thought was simple: there are no winners in DeSean Jackson’s release. There are simply victims.
DeSean Jackson is a victim of his own behavior. His social media presence got him in trouble. His attitude got him in trouble. And the Eagles finally couldn’t take the pressure of babysitting an NFL star.
The sad part of it all is that Jackson will not suffer in the wallet or in his playing career, at least not immediately. Until the story grows deeper with more details of Jackson’s off-the-field lifestyle, Jackson will have a job in the NFL and have success. This story does not diminish ability.
If you look at the story – a great one on NJ.com by Eliot Shorr-Parks and A.J. Perez – that ultimately forced the Eagles hand, it will cause a lot of tension in Jackson’s case as his career moves forward. It is very comparable to Aaron Hernandez’ murder trial. If you are viewed as a criminal or in the process of defending yourself against a crime – as Jackson could be doing in the near future – it derails your career.
He may not be a victim now, but he will be soon if everything turns out to be true as will his new team.
The Eagles are victim of Jackson’s behavior as well. By acting in this manner and being involved with the people he is, it ultimately came back to hurt the Eagles. Thus, they are forced to make every attempt to make Jackson marketable to another team. When all else failed, they had to release him for nothing in return.
Ultimately, Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman and Chip Kelly didn’t want a prima donna controlling the locker room or the organization. As the story escaladed, the Eagles realized that’s what they had on their hands.
When this story came out, it was obvious that this was the final straw in a lengthy list of concerns the Eagles had regarding their top wide receiver.
The fans may be the biggest victims of all. The Eagles now are forced to cause their offense to suffer because of one player’s attitude. It doesn’t make their decision wrong, but it doesn’t help the matter.
Think about where the Eagles were just a few months ago. The first weekend of January, DeSean Jackson was on the field and the Eagles were in the playoffs.
It certainly doesn’t have to make sense to fans. A wide receiver fresh off a career year being cut doesn’t make sense for sure.
Still, the Eagles did the only thing they could do. Essentially, this is no longer their problem. So Kelly, Lurie and Roseman got what they wanted.
Jackson too will get what he wanted. He may not be an Eagle, but there is no doubt he’ll play in 2014.
It is the fans that don’t get what they want. Unfortunately, with Jackson, they never would have.
As long as the Eagles had DeSean Jackson, they would have dealt with handling his behavior. On the field, he is a powder keg waiting to explode. He may make the big plays, but his talk is bigger and has a tendency to get him in trouble.
His off-the-field behavior is worse. We were going on Year 3 of tracking DeSean Jackson’s Twitter and Instagram accounts for the next thing that could potentially tarnish his and the Eagles reputation.
Jackson is still young himself, but the Eagles are continuing to try to mold a championship team out of players they plan to grow themselves. Kelly seems infatuated with the draft and his ability to really call all of the shots – to scout talent and then pick it based on what the board says. As you can imagine, wide receiver has now become a greater need than it was a few days earlier.
For now, until the next chapter of this story is revealed, the Eagles and their fans are the ultimate victims. While Jackson is a victim of his own behavior, his career will move on and he’s prepared to fight to protect his reputation.
In the meantime, the Eagles are forced to stay silent at the advice of their lawyers. And for the fans of the team and Philly sports, it is another situation to question.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
