Jan 4, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper (14) celebrates a touchdown catch with teammate DeSean Jackson (10) against the New Orleans Saints during the first half 2013 NFC wild card playoff football game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
With Desean Jackson visiting Washington as we speak on Monday, the race for the talented and recently released former Eagles wideout has been narrowed down to three clear frontrunners according to reports from ProFootballTalk.
Washington and Oakland have been well known to have clear interest in Jackson, but on Sunday the Buffalo Bills became the third team to be identified as interested in bidding for Desean Jackson.
From ProFootballTalk:
"The Redskins get the first crack at talking to wide receiver DeSean Jackson on Monday and there’s wide agreement that the team would love to add Jackson to their offense.What’s less clear is whether or not they’ll be willing to put up enough money to keep Jackson from exploring other options for the 2014 season. Mark Maske and Mike Jones of the Washington Post report that two sources with knowledge of the Redskins’ thinking say that the team is “all in” on their pursuit of Jackson, although that comes with a hedge that it is “unclear” if the team will meet Jackson’s contract demands.A third source tells the reporters that the team will only wind up with Jackson “if he’ll come on the cheap,” however, which suggests a different description than “all in” when it comes to their interest level.The Raiders and Bills, who have also been linked to Jackson since his release in Philadelphia, each have more cap space than the Redskins at the moment. A report on Sunday indicated that the Bills aren’t interested in getting into a bidding war for Jackson’s services. The Raiders, meanwhile, were reportedly still doing background work on the wideout while determining how to proceed."
With Jackson visiting the Eagles NFC East rivals over the next two days, Raider fans are holding onto the hope that if Washington cannot find a way to fit Jackson into their cap space that Oakland will be the most desirable destination for the former Cal star. That also hinges on general manager Reggie McKenzie being willing to spend the money and the background check being to the Raiders liking, but if Jackson does leave Washington without a deal it is safe to say that Oakland will be the frontrunners for him depending on any teams getting into the mix out of the blue over the coming days.