Eagles to release three-time Pro Bowl WR DeSean Jackson

It appears DeSean Jackson‘s second stint with the Eagles will end after two years. Following two injury-plagued seasons, the Eagles intend to release the veteran deep threat, per Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio.

Jackson still intends to play next season, but the 13-year veteran will attempt to do so after playing in only eight games over the past two years. The 34-year-old wide receiver was due to count $10.7M against Philadelphia’s cap in 2021. Unless this cut will be designated as a post-June 1 transaction, the Eagles will save nearly $5M by making this move.

Philly’s 2019 trade for Jackson turned into a sunk cost quickly. He suffered a core muscle injury early in his first season back with the Eagles and aggravated the malady upon return. Jackson played in just three games in 2019. This past season, hamstring and ankle ailments limited Jackson to five games. He ended up catching just 23 passes for 395 yards in his second Eagles stint.

Neither of Jackson’s past two teams have gotten what they hoped to out of the elite long-range weapon. Jackson’s last 1,000-yard season came in 2016 with Washington. He did not mesh too well with Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay, with his 774-yard 2018 slate doubling as his top output in the past four seasons. The Buccaneers traded him to the Eagles after that ’18 season.

While Jackson’s second Eagles stay did not go well, with an ugly anti-Semitic remark producing a fine last year, he still rates as one of the best receivers in franchise history. With 6,512 receiving yards as an Eagle, Jackson ranks behind only Harold Carmichael and Pete Retzlaff in franchise history. Jackson accumulated most of that total in his initial six-season Philly run, during which he made three Pro Bowls.

The Eagles’ decisions to extend Jackson and Alshon Jeffery produced little in the way of production, with both contracts quickly becoming albatrosses. A Jeffery cut would still cost Philly money in 2021. The Eagles are set to take on a record $33M dead-money sum by trading Carson Wentz. Even with the Jackson move, they remain more than $40M over the projected 2021 cap.