DeSean Jackson Trade Bait?
June 6th, 2018
Expendable?
Joe wouldn’t do it but there are enough folks out there that think otherwise.
And one is former NFL corner Bryant McFadden, a two-time Super Bowl champion.
Now a yakker for CBS Sports, McFadden recently made the case that the Bucs should be open to any trade offers that come their way for DeSean Jackson’s services.
“They should look to move DeSean Jackson,” McFadden said. “He’s set to make $11 million. If they trade him now, they are off the hook $11 million. That frees up $11 million to distribute to other [players] on your team.”
Joe agrees with the money element of what McFadden is saying but that is more realistic next year. It is next year that the Bucs may have bills to pay. Kwon Alexander will be an unrestricted free agent. Donovan Smith will be an unrestricted free agent. Ali Marpet will be an unrestricted free agent. The Bucs don’t really need the extra cap room now. (And yes, Joe understands the concept of rolling over cap money.)
Another reason McFadden thinks Jackson is trade bait? The emergence of Chris Godwin. Joe can honestly say that prior to this season, Joe never in his life expected to type the following:
“The Bucs are loaded at receiver.”
See McFadden’s complete take below.
Hat tip: Gil Arcia.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:03 am
Absolutely he is trade bait!
June 6th, 2018 at 11:04 am
I doubt there will be any takers with his cap numbers.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:06 am
Alabama that’s not an issue really. He could easily restructure his contract.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:07 am
Trade bait for sure, but what can you really expect to get for him the way he performed last year and the fact that he is due 11 million? Probably not worth moving him.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:09 am
He should definitely be trade bait. One team I can think of would be the Cowboys.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:09 am
no you dont trade him you keep your depth. we will have the cap space to resign our other players next season
June 6th, 2018 at 11:18 am
Yes what we want to do is make it so that we don’t have depth at WR. They never get hurt, right?
June 6th, 2018 at 11:25 am
I’m of the opinion that Marpet has already proven he is worthy of a new contract, so resign him now if possible. Kwon would be resigned as well. So no harm if they do it now…except…
…resigning them now would make their new contracts end a year sooner…so there is that.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:26 am
That auto playing video is driving me crazy. Gotta pause it after every post.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:30 am
Donovan smith is very inconsistant… so worrying about him being an unrestricted free agent next year shouldnt scare anyone js
June 6th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Send him to a team with a QB that can hit him in stride….and keep his bitching out of Mike Evan’s ear….Move On. Bucs
June 6th, 2018 at 11:36 am
The main reason I think he would be trade bait is because I don’t think he would stand for a reduction in his snaps. I imagine the diva would come out of her is splitting snaps with Godwin and we don’t need that type of attitude on the team. Keeping Jackson only shows the development of Godwin and perhaps Wilson. For me it’s not about the cap money, but the future of the position and the general attitude of the team.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:39 am
If its just to free the cap space then I wouldn’t do it.
If the team could be improved via direct player for player trade at a position of some need (OG,OT,Safety) or if we were offered enough in draft picks – Say a high 4th rd pick – then it would make sense to consider trading DJax.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:40 am
Trade McIceCream within the division so the Bucs can finally score a red zone Rushing TD. That would be nice.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:47 am
Help me …here…who is this stuttering …babbling “Bryan” ?…geesh…find another career…talking heads spouting talking points are a dime a dozen…I don’t miss Trent Dilfer as a Buc QB…but do miss his football insights….I do have his Rookie card if anyone is interested 🙂
June 6th, 2018 at 11:47 am
Nope, Godwin isn’t proven yet if he got hurt then the receiving corps looks like 2016 and no thanks on that!
June 6th, 2018 at 11:52 am
What position would we trade for? What is our biggest need? I think WR depth is fine.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:54 am
This would depend on the development of Justin Watson.
June 6th, 2018 at 11:59 am
I say do it. There’s a WR needy team with a GM that does silly things. His name is Jerrah. Might be able to drag a 2nd and more out of that organization on Jackson’s name alone.
June 6th, 2018 at 12:07 pm
First thing when you talk about trading a talented player
Draw up the new depth chart
Right now
Starters- Evans, Jackson, Slot, Humphries. Thats 3 great starters
Backup- Chris Godwin, Justin Watson, slot Bobo Wilson
Without Jackson
Starters- Evans, Godwin, Slot Humphries
Backups- Justin Watson, Freddie Martino, Slot-Bobo Wilson
If Evans and Godwin go down- pretty weak
June 6th, 2018 at 12:15 pm
If Watson works out they really are loaded. But I still have BTSD. Bell Traumatic Stress Disorder.
June 6th, 2018 at 12:21 pm
Trade bait? No one is going to give up more than a 6th rd pick for him bc of his contract. Let him play this year, he is still a special player, then move on. It always funny to hear fantasy trades. A team can go get Dez, Maclin, Decker for free and for close to a minimum contract. One more year of Djax and it should be a good one.
June 6th, 2018 at 12:28 pm
To be fair Capt Tim is Evans goes down then the whole group becomes weak with or without Jackson
June 6th, 2018 at 12:35 pm
I like the idea…..
trade djax to the cowboys for La’el Collins…..we need a young talented experienced G….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
June 6th, 2018 at 12:36 pm
@ scbucfan
Not true. Jackson has been a #1 receiver his whole career prior to signing with the bucs. He and godwin should be able to hold their own if evans goes down and that is why trading djax would be stupid.
June 6th, 2018 at 12:40 pm
webster did you see anything in the chemistry between Jackson and JW last year to think he could put up numbers anywhere close to Evans?
June 6th, 2018 at 12:44 pm
The Bucs should be open to trading anyone on their roster with the exception of Jameis & Evans.
June 6th, 2018 at 12:59 pm
Trade him NO move him to the slot and start Evans, Godwin and Jackson that’s a scarey lineup. Hump is good but doesn’t scare anyone he’s no Edelman or Welker.
June 6th, 2018 at 1:00 pm
If only there was a way to glimpse into the future to see how DJax will contribute this season. I say trade him. Bring Godwin in fulltime and let new 5th round draft choice Justin Watson, Bobo Wilson, Freddie Martino, Igwebuike battle for the last 2 spots. Some of that 11 million could be used to land us a decent RG. Maybe lure Incognito to Tampa
June 6th, 2018 at 1:09 pm
Hey let’s fleece Chucky. He loves high priced vets with big reps. Desean could go back to the West Coast and hopefully we could get a high draft pick for next year.
June 6th, 2018 at 1:14 pm
Would be moronic, would mean Humphries is one injury away from starting and tanking the entire offense. Anywho it’s not going to happen so it’s all talk for the sake of talk, but really it would be just as dumb of a move as going into the season with Chris Conte still starting.
June 6th, 2018 at 1:25 pm
At $4million per touchdown…..we could use the money more wisely……
June 6th, 2018 at 1:25 pm
I would 100% trade him if somebody became available as a trade partner. you would think a guy with his speed would be returning kicks and utilized in the slot where he can get an open space and run wild. I would trade DeSean Jackson for a kicker at this point never wanted him here in the first place I wanted Kenny Stills all along and I also have high expectations for that big body wide receiver Watson
June 6th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
Yeah let’s get rid of the guy who exposes our Qb’s greatest weakness, throwing the long ball and hitting your receivers in stride. Without DeSean we no longer have to worry about exhibit A that he sucks at throwing to targets deep. No DeSean =no deep threat which in turn leads us back to 8 men in the box because teams will now have even more of an advantage than last year. One thing is to have a guy who cant throw deep to save his career but it gets even worse if you dont have a guy with TRUE deep threat capability. I love Godwin but he is a possession reciever who occasionally gets open deep. Big difference between 4.44 40 vs. 4.31 40.
June 6th, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Completely idiotic.
We knew how much we had to pay Desean, and we did so because we wanted the weapon. If Winston connected once last year we wouldn’t be talking about this.
Unless he truly becomes expendable (we draft DJAX 2.0 next year) or we really need the money or he’s pain in the locker room, I’d be surprised if we even move him next year.
June 6th, 2018 at 2:21 pm
Winston seems to have a blind spot in his eye throwing to Jackson because this receiver is too small.
June 6th, 2018 at 2:27 pm
First- Humphries is very much a Welker or Edleman type reciever. He leads this team in yards after catch, and in completion per tarfet percentage.
If we had the ball as much as Brady- Humphries numbers would be right in line with the other two.
But he is a slot reciever.
Second- Desean Jackson has been a number one reciever most of his career. The Fact that Hameis couldnt hit him in stride( or at all) was just timing. Every other QB, once they got the timing down, used Jackson as their number one target.
Both starting WRs often get hurt in todays NFL. You need to have two qualified backups, besides another starter- before you trade a talented starter.
The idea is to get more talented than your opposition. Not trade talent. And Chris Godwin hasnt shown hes a starter. Not by a long shot
June 6th, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Eric just admit it your a Gator fan. We get it, you don’t like Winston. Me I had season tickets for 25 years. So I saw a lot of QBs thru the years play for the Bucs. Winston to me even with all the so called flaws you think he has, is better right now than any of them hands down. Winston’s problem is that so far during his 3 years with the Bucs he has never had a defense, he has never had a consistent running game, a average field goal kicker( more important than you think) a offense suited to his talents (see Jared Goff, what difference a coach makes). So yeah he turns the ball over, he makes mistakes,but it’s magnified because he pretty much has to be perfect every game just to win games. Eric take off the hater glasses and lets give Winston a chance to show what he can do with a balanced team, not a one man team…
June 6th, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Rotate Jackson and Godwin keeping both fresh in the hot temperatures and opposing secondaries will get worked all day.
June 6th, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Casual Observer
“What position would we trade for? What is our biggest need? I think WR depth is fine.”
Dominant RG. Bring him in, use Benenoch and eventually Cappa for depth. Let Benenoch and Cappa and Dotson battle it out for opening day RT.
June 6th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Packers may be willing to give up a 3rd
June 6th, 2018 at 4:32 pm
he has been a VERY GOOD player for every team he has played for except the bucs…Trade the qb !
June 6th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Love the guy but he’ll waste away here. I doubt they’ll trade. This is an outgoing administration so they’ll want all the talent possible but they can’t get him a good playcaller or a QB that can hit him deep. He took the money so, oh well.
June 6th, 2018 at 4:38 pm
SOEbuc. Not a bad idea. If he is to go.
June 6th, 2018 at 5:56 pm
@ soebuc
Winston and evans chemistry sucked the first year as well. They put in the work during the offseason and evans made all pro. Winston and djax has been putting in the work this offseason. No reason for me to think their chemistry wont be better. You hold on to djax.
June 6th, 2018 at 6:37 pm
Capt.Tim Says:
This could change with the new “no hitta de head” rule this year.
June 6th, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Receivers are not interchangeable guys. You can’t put Jackson in the slot unless he’s willing to learn all the options and reads. You can’t put him in the slot unless he’s willing to learn all the run game blocking assignments, chip DEs and seal linebackers and safeties. You can’t put someone in the slot unless they’re willing to makes catches underneath linebackers and safeties or between DBs in a seam and absorb the hit.
The modern slot receiver is small, smart, quick, crafty and tough. Jackson has never been known for route running or blocking. In fact, his overt, aggressive aversion to blocking was painfully obvious last year as was his lackadaisical effort on plays where he wasn’t targeted.
Still, he can take the top off the defense and he’s been a model citizen, working out with Jameis and showing up for OTAs.
June 6th, 2018 at 7:34 pm
While I am confident in Godwin’s future success, I think we should give him some more playing time this season before he is proclaimed the No. 2 receiver.
June 6th, 2018 at 9:05 pm
I think we have so much talent now in the receiver pool (thanks Licht) that Jackson was absolutely trade bait, but it likely never worked out. No team out there wants to pony up 11 million for a 31 year old guy that put up numbers like he did last year. I don’t want to hear all the BS about that being Jameis not hitting him with the ball. It wasn’t all on him.
And when you have guys like Dez Bryant still looking for a team, there’s no chance they will pay that much for D Jax. But hey, this is going to be a money season for Jackson. We can cut him next year without losing much if no trade comes about. So I think it could be a win/win situation for the Bucs. Jackson wants a Doug Martin upcoming paycheck time type year, and we can reap all the benefit. No more sandbagging on passes.
June 6th, 2018 at 9:08 pm
And for what it’s worth, I hope Godwin gets more playtime than D Jax.
June 6th, 2018 at 9:58 pm
With all the things that go wrong with this team every year this would be the one some other receiver we depend on gets hurt. Money is not a good enough reason and him having the least amount of production since beinga rookie is on the quarterback.
You need wins before moving on from a threat like that. Win with him before trying to prove you can win without him.
June 7th, 2018 at 1:06 am
WE BASE GOODWIN being ready after performing for one game, sorry but we lose DJ we will be back to NOT being able to open up the field..DEFENSES will stack 8 men in the box cause no need to be worried about a downfield threat.
lets try this for a change WINSTON hit DJ on the run get on target and you will see. look at eagle highlights when the QB was accurate how he performs..
June 7th, 2018 at 9:56 am
Just like this website said we were stacked at corner last year? Some never learn. The irony of the team having to dump Jackson because Winston is unable to get him the ball is comical.