Rams sign free-agent receiver, L.A. native Jackson
DeSean Jackson was a free agent looking for a home. The Rams gave the wide receiver a familiar one.
The Los Angeles native and Long Beach Poly product agreed to sign with the Rams on Sunday evening, marking the team’s first free-agent acquisition of the year.
The agreement was announced by the Rams on Twitter and Jackson on Instagram. Contract terms weren’t immediately known.
The 34-year-old was released by the Philadelphia Eagles last month after injuries limited him to eight games the past two seasons.
But if he’s healthy he can add a deep threat to the Rams, a stated offseason goal for general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay, by joining Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp in the receiving corps for new quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Jackson isn’t the kind of big receiver Snead has recently described as a potential target — he’s 5-foot-10, 175 pounds — but at his peak he was one of the fastest receivers in football.
Jackson has led the NFL in yards per reception in four of his 13 seasons with three franchises since being drafted in the second round out of Cal for his first stint with the Eagles.
As recently as 2018, when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he led the league in average yards before catch with 14.5.
McVay knows him well from Washington, where Jackson played while McVay was offensive coordinator.
Before Sunday, the Rams player movement in the first week of NFL free agency had been entirely outbound, with safety John Jackson and cornerback Troy Hill (both going to the Browns) and tight end Gerald Everett (Seahawks) among eight Rams signing with other teams, and defensive lineman Michael Brockers traded to the Lions.
The Rams re-signed free agent outside linebacker Leonard Floyd.
Other wide receivers on the Rams’ roster include Woods, Kupp and 2020 rookie Van Jefferson. Josh Reynolds is a free agent.