DeSean Jackson just finished his best season in the NFL, and now he wants the Philadelphia Eagles to show him the money.
Jackson set new career bests in receptions (82) and receiving yards (1,332) and tied a career high with nine touchdown catches (2009) in Chip Kelly‘s up-tempo attack in 2013. He finished among the top 10 in the NFL in each of those statistical categories on an Eagles team that ended the season with the second-ranked offense in the NFL. Now that he’s reestablished his place among the best playmakers in the NFL, he’s lobbying the Eagles for a new deal.
“I definitely feel it’s something deserving,” Jackson said Monday, per CSN Philadelphia. “We’ll see how that plays out, and hopefully we can work things out smoothly and not have to worry about anything out of the ordinary.”
Jackson, 27, signed a five-year contract with the Eagles before the 2012 season that pays him $48.5 million with $18 million guaranteed. The guaranteed portion of his deal is set to be paid next season, so Jackson is looking for more security for his future in Philadelphia.
“I’m going into the third year of my deal. Just feel it’s deserving. So we’ll see,” Jackson said. “I feel like I’ve proved everything on the field. To do some of the things that top receivers in this league do, I think like I’m right there at the top. So we’ll see how it goes.”
The Eagles are unlikely to cut Jackson anytime soon, as he seems to be just entering his prime. However, the Eagles could see renegotiating his deal as an opportunity to create more cap space over the next few seasons. Jackson has a $12.5 million cap hit next season followed by $12 million and $10 million in 2015 and 2016, respectively. If the Eagles extend his deal a few more seasons, they could push a lot of the earnings to the back end of the deal and clear some cap space for immediate spending.
Jackson is slated to be the seventh-highest-paid receiver in the NFL next season, earning $10.25 million in base salary, per Spotrac.com. Only Calvin Johnson ($16.2 million), Larry Fitzgerald ($16.1 million), Mike Wallace ($12 million), Dwayne Bowe ($11.2 million), Vincent Jackson ($11.2 million) and Percy Harvin ($10.7 million) will make more.
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