Eagles Testing Market for All-Pro WR, DeSean Jackson

Source: Eagles want at least 3rd-round pick for DeSean Jackson

The +Philadelphia Eagles might not be actively shopping DeSean Jackson but they’re picking up the phone and listening to offers.

And, according to CSN’s Derrick Gunn, other teams are interested.

The team has taken inquiries from the 49ers and Patriots, Gunn has learned from a league source, and notified the Pro Bowl wideout early last week that it’s not shopping him but is listening to potential suitors.

Also according to the source, the Eagles are seeking at least a third-round pick and potentially more for Jackson, whose career-best 1,332 yards last season ranked ninth among +NFL receivers. Jackson also tied a career high with nine touchdowns and averaged 16.2 yards per reception, third-highest among wideouts with at least 80 receptions.

DeSean Jackson in action vs +Denver Broncos in 2013
Photo Courtesy: Denver Broncos (AP)

The Eagles had no comment on the report.

The Eagles last year took inquiries about Jackson and were initially asking for a second-round pick, the source said, but dropped their demand to a middle-round pick but were still unable to trade him.

Jackson’s diva reputation and his salary make him difficult to deal.

A story last Tuesday by +CSNPhilly +Geoff Mosher detailed the reasons why Jackson’s days with the Eagles were likely numbered along with the financial difficulties in finding a trade partner. That was just one of a handful of recent stories on Jackson's situation.

Jackson, just two years into a five-year, $51 million extension, is slated to make $10.25 million in base salary in 2014. The Eagles would take a dead-money cap hit of $6 million this year if they dealt Jackson, but would not owe him the $30 million in base salary over the next three seasons that he’s signed to collect.

Although he flourished in first-year coach Chip Kelly’s offense, Jackson had some polarizing moments, including a verbal altercation with receivers coach Bob Bicknell on the sideline during a loss to the +Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome.

Kelly is known to have little patience with me-first players and to prefer receivers that have more size than the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Jackson.

Over the weekend, Chip Kelly was asked about reports that the Eagles were looking to part ways with Jackson. Kelly, at the Maxwell Club awards in Atlantic City, sidestepped the question, poking fun at a different media outlet for conflicting reports about the team prioritizing wideouts Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper.

“[Jackson] is a player at receiver before Maclin behind Cooper. Or is it Cooper before Maclin?” Kelly joked, completely avoiding the question. “Or Maclin before Cooper? So I’ll check what you write then I’ll tell you what we feel about him.”