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New Jersey – It’s interesting that the Eagles are reportedly concerned with who their players hang out with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
According to NJ.com, they were uncomfortable with DeSean Jackson’s reported California gang connections.
A few years ago they signed Michael Vick, who had some very troubling connections and friends in the Virginia Beach area.
And that is what led to so many of his troubles.
I know a lawyer in Virginia Beach, who always tells me Vick isn’t a bad guy, but so many of the guys around him, are a big problem.
Here is the issue, and it’s very common.
If you come from the wrong side of the tracks, and you make it big, and you move on from the old neighborhood and some of your roguish friends, you are considered a turncoat who forgot his roots. A lot of guys don’t like that tag.
So guys like Jackson and Vick kept the ties from their rough neighborhoods, and it led to big problems for Vick in the past, and for Jackson now.
I’m not defending bad behavior, I’m just describing a common problem.
But I find it amusing that Chip Kelly would have issues with gang connections.
When he was at Oregon, he recruited the Compton’s, the South Central’s of the world. He got a lot of good talent out of those areas.
So all of a sudden he has an issue with a player who isn’t a choir boy?
Let’s be honest, the biggest reason DeSean Jackson was released was his $10.5 million salary this year, and $12.75 million cap figure.
Now if he was a Calvin Johnson, they’d be willing to pay that, but he’s not. He’s a small, quick receiver – you can find those kind of guys.
Kelly figures, in a draft loaded with excellent wide receiver prospects (a lot that he knows well from the college ranks like Marqise Lee and Brandin Cooks from the Pac-10), he can find a small, quick fast wide receiver, and pay him much less than Jackson.
So where does Jackson wind up?
I’m saying the leader in the clubhouse are the Oakland Raiders.
First off, Jackson went to Cal-Berkeley, a stone’s throw from Oakland, so he likes the area.
Secondly, the Raiders will pay him the most money.
The Raiders are spending like drunken sailors this off-season.
It’s a must-win year for the GM and coach, and they have been doing a lot of shopping, and in many cases offering more money than other suitors.
Justin Tuck got $11 million for two years from Oakland, when he said he would have taken $8 million to stay with the Giants (which wasn’t offered).
Jared Allen’s camp said the Raiders offered more money than the Bears, but he signed with Chicago anyway.
MJD is signing with Oakland after a quick visit. He clearly wasn’t happy with the offers he was getting until he went out to Oakland, and signed fast.
From what I’m hearing, Jackson is having financial issues, so he’s probably going to go with the team that pays him the best money, and I have a feeling it’s Oakland.
I think the Jets are interested, but aren’t going to overspend.
March 28, 2014
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