DeSean Update

Posted: March 25th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 84 Comments »

DeSean Jackson threw us all a curve ball last night when he went on Twitter with this.

Everything is now clear…as mud. I don’t know if he really talked to Chip or what was said, but don’t get your hopes up for there to be some resolution. Never say never, but it just seems highly unlikely at this point.

Here is Les Bowen on Howie Roseman’s handling of DeSean questions yesterday. Howie would not address the topic and wouldn’t even throw a generic denial to the media.

“He’s still under contract. For us, until there’s anything to report on our players, that’s where we are right now,” Roseman said.

Yikes.

Jeff McLane wrote the same thing, but then added a twist to his story.

As one NFL coach said, “There has to be something there we don’t know.”

NFL sources have indicated that the Eagles decided to move on from Jackson after his South Philadelphia home was burglarized in early January.

Jackson, who was away at the time of the burglary, told police that $200,000 in cash was stolen as well as a 9mm handgun and jewelry valued at about $125,000.

There were no signs of forced entry, police said, though security cameras in the house had been tampered with. Police said they have nothing pointing toward Jackson’s doing anything wrong or that he filed a fraudulent report.

“We have no indication of any type of foul play or misrepresentation on his part,” said Lt. John Stanford, a department spokesman. “We are treating this as a burglary, and there is no indication that it’s anything different.”

Back to the burglary. Is something more going on there than we know? Sounds like the Eagles might think so.

We’ll see what rumors get kicked up today. Does SF really want DeSean? How about the Jets or Raiders? Was DeSean on the grassy knoll in Dallas? Another day, another twist I’m sure.

Chip Kelly will meet with the media on Wednesday morning (today was AFC coaches). I wonder what Kelly might be forced to talk about…

_

84 Comments on “DeSean Update”

  1. 1 ICDogg said at 12:09 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Why is resolution such an impossible scenario to imagine? People have disputes all the time, sometimes some pretty big ones, and many of them are resolved without major upheaval.

    Isn’t it just possible that the two parties have decided it is mutually beneficial for Desean to return to the Eagles this season?

  2. 2 iceberg584 said at 12:14 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Agreed. I think it’s entirely possible that after the public messiness and squandered leverage of the past couple weeks, Howie and Chip have decided that the compensation for DeSean is not going to make moving him worth it to the team, both in 2014 and over the next three years.

  3. 3 bkshawon12 said at 12:31 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Be pretty tought to forgive him for killing Kennedy as Tommy alluded to.

  4. 4 Jarrod said at 12:35 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Especially when there is nothing to resolve! This whole mess was fabricated by the media. Kelly and Roseman just decided not to comment because they had done nothing to require a comment. Finally they heard DJax was nervous and reached out to him. Non-story… still

  5. 5 austinfan said at 4:34 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    If there was nothing, how come Chip didn’t end by a one liner in a press conference – he had numerous opportunities.

  6. 6 Brian said at 11:10 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Because April Fools is coming up

    #notsayinjustsayin

  7. 7 holeplug said at 12:36 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Probably wanna update your post with McLane’s tweet Tommy.

  8. 8 GEAGLE said at 1:30 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Never….our media only uses rumors for negative purposes. Rumors don’t count if they are positive

  9. 9 Crus57 said at 12:39 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Absent further revelations about why the Eagles apparently decided to get rid of Desean, what if this is turned into a rather muddled attempt to get Desean to understand his actual value as opposed to what he thinks he is worth? Thanks to the kerfuffle of the last few weeks they can now tell him exactly what other teams would be willing to trade for him (which is likely less than he expected due to his contract).

  10. 10 barneygoogle said at 12:40 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Gee…will the media admit, maybe they…overreacted?
    I suspect the Eagles could keep DeSean if they can’t get the picks they want, and at the end of the season decide that either he or Maclin stay/ the other goes. Also give them a year to evaluate what they got, if they draft a rookie WR.

  11. 11 pawwwwllllll said at 12:44 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    This all still seems like much ado about nothing to me.

  12. 12 austinfan said at 12:52 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I don’t think this is that complex, Eagles didn’t get an offer they liked, they were never going to cut him outright (stupid media rumor), so Chip calls and make nice without a firm commitment.

    Eagles have $18M in cap room WITH DeSean’s contract, so they don’t HAVE to do anything, by making nice Chip retains the option of bringing DeSean back, squelches the rumors they’re going to cut DeSean and ends the lowball offers, but has now made it clear to DeSean that they consider him easily replaceable.

    Eagles hold all the cards:

    1) they wait for a good offer and trade him before the draft.
    2) they wait until after the draft, see who they end up with, and if they like the WRs they take then dump Djax for whatever they can get before his salary is guaranteed.
    3) If they don’t get a good offer, they have to merely weight the
    $6M cost of keeping him (salary minus dead money) v the risk he gets
    injured or suspended (in which case they keep his salary and have no
    financial exposure). They can bring DeSean back, run him into the ground, then cut or trade him after the 2014 season when there’s only $4M in dead money. The opportunity cost becomes the $10M they could roll over into the 2015 cap.

    I think the one thing they won’t do is renegotiate or extend his contract, it’s clear he’s not considered a “core player” in Howie’s terms. So even if he returns in 2014, don’t bet on him being around in 2015. The combination of character, durability issues (his frame, 2 concussions, and he’ll turn 29 in 2015 and can’t afford to lose a step), and his cap hit pretty much preclude that as a serious possibility.

  13. 13 P_P_K said at 2:40 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    If he is in Green this year (and I don’t mean the Jets), it will be interesting to see how much passion he shows. On the one hand, everyone knows he can dog it when unhappy. On the other hand, he will likely be auditioning for his future.

  14. 14 austinfan said at 4:32 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Chip ain’t AR.
    If he dogs, there will be a confrontation, and if he gets out of line, suspension without pay.

    DeSean is finding out he has zero leverage, Chip don’t need him, and Chip won’t tolerate his BS.

    This is why you don’t give a lot of guaranteed money to players with character issues, you don’t want the inmates running the asylum.

    And one reason character matters in the draft is not just the first few years, when work ethic helps a player improve, but when it comes time for that big money extension, you don’t have to worry about them when they get that big paycheck.

  15. 15 Iskar36 said at 2:59 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    This seems like the most likely scenario. The fact that this is coinciding with the league meetings supports it as well. Lots of rumors and trades get negotiated during the league meetings and you can easily imagine that during some free time, Howie talked with a few of the teams that showed interest and pressed them on their offers. When he came back empty handed, he decided that the easiest thing to do would be to get DeSean back on board with rejoining the team, and if teams started inquiring again later, with the added assurance that it no longer looks like the Eagles are desperate to get rid of DeSean, maybe they can get a better trade.

  16. 16 A_T_G said at 5:04 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    So many of your post I read and think ,”Yeah! That’s what I was thinking…only better explained…and more complete…and with that extra bit of evidence I hadn’t considered…and better supported by facts or stats. Other than that, I was thinking exactly the same thing!”

  17. 17 barneygoogle said at 5:31 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Good analysis. Somebody here can think!

  18. 18 GermanEagle said at 1:01 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    The only info we can take away from DeSean’s tweet is the fact that he’s got a Big Chip on his shoulder.

  19. 19 SteveH said at 1:11 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I can never resist upvoting a groan-worthy pun.

  20. 20 GermanEagle said at 1:17 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    No pun intended for upvoting. 😉

  21. 21 P_P_K said at 2:38 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Brutal, just brutal.

  22. 22 suthrneagle said at 8:16 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Gonnahava copy of `BigChip on his shoulder` always nearby to
    give me a laugh whenever I need; thanks

  23. 23 Mike Roman said at 1:07 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    If it weren’t for the tragic loss of Flight 370, this would hands down win in “mystery of the year”.

  24. 24 barneygoogle said at 5:31 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Oh No. I hear DeSean was on that flight!

  25. 25 SteveH said at 1:14 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    When the telenovela comes out, it will be titled… “Jaccpot: La gran historia”

  26. 26 GermanEagle said at 1:21 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I’d prefer “#jaccpodrama: La gran twitta bonanza”

  27. 27 GEAGLE said at 1:23 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Someone needs to break kempskis twitter finger

  28. 28 GEAGLE said at 1:22 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    DeGone called his team mates today and said he talked to Chip and that he will be an eagle this year.

  29. 29 GEAGLE said at 1:27 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Jimmy Hoffas body was discovered in the apartment floor boards…I can assure you that if their was something to the gossipy BULLSHIT master criminal conspiracy crap…Desean would be a cowboy or deadskin by now! we would have 7extra draft picks and everyone would be talking crap wondering why we would ever send him to a rival…
    …
    Smh…only in philly.
    …
    I don’t know why anyone would listen to this bullshit by anyone who covers the eagles, when Adam Shefter has been laying out the facts for days now. Sorry, but I trust Shefter more then Les Bowan getting his intel from Deseans cleaning lady

  30. 30 Tumtum said at 2:12 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Living in MD and working in DC I can tell you with certainty it isn’t just in Philly(skins ravens). There is a chance it could be just the Mid-Atlantic judging from my personal experience but I have a distinct feeling every town in the ole US of A is about the same.

  31. 31 GEAGLE said at 2:31 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Doubt packers fans deal with this crap

  32. 32 Bert's Bells said at 4:36 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Packers never had any drama with Favre. None at all.

  33. 33 ICDogg said at 2:15 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bjl3598IAAIAi2-.jpg

  34. 34 Tumtum said at 2:28 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    But Seattle CBs prove that DJ is an ineffective receiver that can’t be effective in the Chip Kelly offense. *boggle*

  35. 35 Republicans_Sux said at 3:32 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    We will find out what happens on draft day. No point in speculating

  36. 36 Miami_Adam said at 4:01 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Honestly, if there has ever been a picture that does NOT speak for itself, it’s that picture.

  37. 37 DaO_Z said at 4:18 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I love the different perspectives on that picture….Eagles fans were using it as a “Chip chasing Desean out of Philly” joke; while it seems Desean sees the picture as proof he’s staying?

  38. 38 Thorin said at 4:38 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    With all the different versions of the details of these stories leaking out, has anyone maybe the Eagles are just trying to smoke out their leaks?

    You know, you tell one guy “Chip hasn’t called DeSean.” You tell another guy, “DeSean hasn’t returned Chip’s calls.” You wait to see which story makes the papers…

  39. 39 GENETiC-FREAK said at 5:34 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I can agree with this.. Close sources say this n that.. Say you only told 1 person or a select few this news then that comes out.. Cut them off coz now you know they cant be trusted.. If they are mates of DJax spilling the news now you know who you true friends are too

  40. 40 greenblood0118 said at 4:45 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Yo I said it first on TATE!! My off the reservation theory! Mods took it down in less than 10 minutes !!

  41. 41 A_T_G said at 5:15 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Maybe someone more familiar with the organizational structure can share what role marquisdakushsmoker holds at the Novacare Complex, but I think I found the explanation for the sudden turning of the tides. From the replies to DJax’s Instagram:

    I played a game of madden without u I lost I didn’t like that the eagles would be crazy to let u go

    Translated to English:
    I played a game of Madden without you. I lost. I didn’t like that. The Eagles would be crazy to let you go.

    It seems the Eagles may be using Madden to investigate various personnel decisions.

  42. 42 barneygoogle said at 5:38 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Finally the DeSean media orgasms have ended.,…for now. If we release three or four local sportswriters…can we get any compensatory picks? I can’t wait to hear tomorrow with Chip.
    What writer will ask him: “is the mini camp starting QB, Foles or Sanchez…?”

  43. 43 SteveH said at 5:41 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I have unnamed sources deep within the Novacare complex, and they tell me that they were suddenly fired and can’t figure out why.

  44. 44 ICDogg said at 6:00 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I have a deeply placed source. He’s a rectal surgeon, so his information is heavily embedded.

  45. 45 SteveH said at 6:37 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    … what kind of information does he give you?

  46. 46 D3FB said at 6:42 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Most of it is crappy.

  47. 47 ICDogg said at 6:55 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I prefer to think of it as scatological evidence.

  48. 48 SteveH said at 7:51 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    … can you trust him to give an accurate representation of whats going on in there?

  49. 49 ICDogg said at 7:56 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    You bet your ass!

  50. 50 SteveH said at 10:41 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Just saw your guy on twitter, he said something big is coming down the pipe, stay tuned.

  51. 51 ICDogg said at 10:59 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Something to do with Brown, perhaps?

  52. 52 SteveH said at 11:33 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    He didn’t say, but I feel like it could have something to do with Sanchez.

  53. 53 ICDogg said at 11:54 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    “The Dirty” is strictly turd string.

  54. 54 ICDogg said at 6:49 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Explosive details.

  55. 55 Jernst said at 8:37 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    haha i had the same thought. Was this all one big internal leak test at the nova care complex?

  56. 56 Cafone said at 5:54 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I hope DeSean isn’t traded so I can criticize Kempski’s horrible performances on your podcast without seeming like I’m just doing because I’m mad about the DeSean Jackson thing, because he’s really bad at it. It’s like the Lawlor and fingernails on a chalkboard show.

  57. 57 GermanEagle said at 6:00 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I really happen to believe that Jimmy Bama hopes that DeSean gets traded so he can certainly brag about it. Also if DeSean stays it will not be in the best interest for his journalism career.

  58. 58 iceberg584 said at 6:07 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I can somewhat get the whole “let’s blame Jimmy Kempski and the media side of things”, but even if the team decides they are better off holding onto DeSean, there was definitely some semblance of a story there…and at the end of the day, we are basically blaming Kempski for doing his job really well. Assuming he didn’t have any sources, he essentially pieced together various actions and events, and through thoughtful analysis, concluded that a DeSean trade could be in the offing. I’ve all along hoped that he was mistaken, but it’s almost undeniable that to some extent, he was right, and given the media consensus and information available at the time, that is mighty impressive.
    Just because he was probably right shouldn’t make him the bad guy. I doubt his article inspired Chip and Howie to do anything they weren’t already war-gaming.

  59. 59 A_T_G said at 6:44 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Well said.

  60. 60 Bert's Bells said at 7:00 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Nah, the Eagles only thought about trading Jackson because “the media”. That’s the Lurie/Roseman mode of operating isn’t it?

  61. 61 GermanEagle said at 7:04 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Didn’t mean this as an offense to Jimmy at all. Just thinking that he’d like his story to happen all the way through.

  62. 62 Jernst said at 8:35 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    All would have been fine if he maintained throughout that the piece was one of pure speculation. But, he kept fanning the flames by intimating that he had a more profound source. He’s made multiple references in his blog and on twitter that there was more to his article than just speculation. That’s where he crossed the line. Either quote a source and tell us why he thinks it’s reasonable to trust said source, or don’t say anything at all.

  63. 63 Cafone said at 8:56 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    But to play devil’s (Kempski’s) advocate, it seems that it wasn’t pure speculation.

  64. 64 Jernst said at 9:36 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I think maybe I wasn’t clear or you missed the point of my critique of Kempski. Speculation is when you make an educated guess as to something without any inside knowledge. It has no relation to whether or not said guess is correct or not. It depends on what knowledge you had prior to writing it.

    If his piece was purely speculative and it was just Jimmy connecting dots and his conclusion was true and the Eagles traded Jackson, I’d heap praise upon him because he saw something coming that none of us saw. Great speculative blogging piece deserving of much credit.

    If the piece was not speculative and instead inspired by inside information then it was terribly poor journalism. You don’t present something as opinion or speculation and then continually hint that there’s something you know that’s driving your opinion without revealing what that is (even if you keep the source anonymous). That’s poor journalism.

    Finally, it appears (since we now have sources directly related to the situation, Jackson, making statements that indicate he isn’t being traded) that the piece was purely speculative and also wrong.

  65. 65 D3FB said at 9:24 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    So you want him to say “Anthony Patch told me this afternoon that the team is agressively trying to trade him, but only to teams in the AFC” ?

  66. 66 Jernst said at 9:30 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    No … of course not. Sources are almost always anonymous. And, they should be kept anonymous. But, if you are going to print information that you are getting from a source that you have good reason to believe is accurate, you state, “A source within the eagles organization has confirmed blah blah blah.” or “A source close to the situation has said this…” You can then expound on how reputable said sources information is. That’s journalism 101.

    What Jimmy did was write a speculative piece (or at least that’s what I assumed it was at the time), as more and more smoke began to develop around his opinion piece he refused to say that it was just his speculation and opinion or just him connecting dots. If he did, it’d be ok to judge it as a speculation piece. Then it would have been fine.

    Instead, he continually insinuated that he had deeper inside knowledge and that his piece was not speculation or merely his opinion but something that he had heard from someone within the organization. Follow his tweets and blog. He continually mentioned hearing this from inside the nova care walls. But, he never would confirm it or get a quote. He would just insinuate and add to the rumors and whispers with nothing substantial. That’s text book bad journalism.

  67. 67 D3FB said at 10:04 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I mean in the initial piece, he said it was a simple speculation/reading tea leaves type piece. He then mentioned in a couple of articles, that he had heard something from the front office, in regards to being tired of Jackson and trying to shop him. Whether it was something off record, or he had heard through another reporter etc, I don’t think we will ever know. Plus Jimmy is a blogger. He didn’t go to school for jounalism, he isn’t a beat reporter, so while I think some of your critiques certainly hold true, I don’t know that they are terribly applicable.

  68. 68 Jernst said at 10:10 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Well, I guess we can just agree to disagree. I thought Jimmy crossed the line by hyping his own rumor by making it seem more legit than it was by making it seem like he was privy to serious inside information on multiple occasions.

    He had plenty of opportunities when people were bashing him to say, hey I just connected some dots and speculated that it might be what’s going on, and it looks like I was on to something. But, he always side stepped that admission, insinuated that he knew something more and stoked the flames of his self created media frenzy .

  69. 69 D3FB said at 10:15 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Wait? A civil decision to mutually hold our own opinions like adults, without reducing to childish name calling? But if I don’t call you and idiot, or tell you to step your game up, or use circular logic to deflect your warranted points, or call you a sheeple, what’s the point?

  70. 70 Jernst said at 8:53 AM on March 26th, 2014:

    You’re so right…this feels so empty….

  71. 71 Jernst said at 10:02 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Said differently… Professional reporters quote their sources (they can remain unnamed, but you quote your source and his relative closeness to the situation)
    and you explain clearly why you believe the sourced information you’re reporting on.

    If you have no source, you make it clear that what you are presenting is your own speculation and when asked if there’s more to the story, you clearly say, no this is just me speculating.

    Never do you write a speculative article and then constantly hint (in your blog, on your twitter feed) that you have more significant sources to drive the hype while never giving any type of specific. It is totally unprofessional and terrible journalism. And, Jimmy deserves all of the flack he’s gotten as a result. I have loved and followed his blogging since the beginning but he’s no longer merely a blogger on the fringes of relevance. He now works for a major media outlet and
    is a credentialed part of the media, he should grow up and start acting like one.

    Nothing is worse than that person who constantly tells you they know some dirt that’s truly crazy and when you ask what exactly they know, they go, “sorry, I can’t say, I really don’t want to talk about it.” —
    Then shut up and don’t say anything in the first place.

    If you want to be a journalist then back up what you’re saying with sources and quotes. And, then we can judge you based on how often you’re reporting and sourcing is accurate. If you want to make well thought out speculations then do that and be upfront with the fact that it’s speculation. But, don’t try to pass something off as speculation and intimate the whole time that there’s more to it that you can’t reveal.

  72. 72 Cafone said at 8:54 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Yeah, in the end it looks like Kempski was right and called it first. We don’t know of course, but it looks like the most likely explanation at this point is that the Eagles just weren’t happy with what they were being offered in trade and decided not to go through with it. If this is the case, then it may not be over yet if another team comes back with a better offer.

  73. 73 GermanEagle said at 5:59 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Well, I don’t wanna be the partypooper here but Lurie had a chance to kill these rumours today and he chose not to. And I am afraid Chip won’t offer any re-assurance on his presser tomorrow either. #jaccpodramacontinues

  74. 74 47_Ronin said at 9:49 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    You’re on a roll tonight, I’m up voting this!

  75. 75 Insomniac said at 11:49 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I hope you’re wrong and you’ll owe me a 6 pack beer of my choice tomorrow.

  76. 76 Weapon Y said at 9:00 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I’ll somewhat believe DeSean is here to stay if/when Chip says so. DeSean isn’t exactly a rocket scientist, nor does he know what’s said behind closed doors in the Eagles front office.

  77. 77 Weapon Y said at 9:05 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I never thought about the burglary before, but if the Eagles had evidence showing DeSean was a fraud, he’d be in handcuffs. I’m pretty sure that’s not the reason he was getting thrown under the bus.

  78. 78 GermanEagle said at 9:09 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    If you think, DeSean is not a GREAT player who is easily replaceable, think twice. But before doing so, read this:

    http://eaglesrewind.com/2014/03/25/contextualizing-mr-jackson/

  79. 79 GermanEagle said at 9:10 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    I normally don’t do this, but I cannot resist to upvote my own post!

  80. 80 GENETiC-FREAK said at 9:26 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Good read!

  81. 81 Baloophi said at 9:26 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Yeah but that’s full of annoying statistics. If we’re gonna start using “statistics” in our debates then the next thing you know, people will start claiming that Foles is a promising quarterback.

  82. 82 GermanEagle said at 9:47 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Well played, sir. By the way are you on twitter?

  83. 83 Baloophi said at 10:00 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Actually, no. I don’t really have a good reason.

  84. 84 GermanEagle said at 10:19 PM on March 25th, 2014:

    Probably better these days…