Nick Foles says farewell to his fans in Philadelphia
Watching superstars Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. switch teams for bargain prices is no way to start the new league year. Not for the Eagles, who let quarterback Nick Foles, their Super Bowl MVP, join the Jacksonville Jaguars.
That left defensive tackle Malik Jackson, an under-the-radar pass rusher cut by Jacksonville, of all teams, to put the happy face on the first day of the Eagles’ new year. He thanked the Eagles for giving him a chance, not to mention a $30 million contract, while also taking time to express his dissatisfaction over being benched last season, and more recently released by the Jaguars.
“They’re a great organization that would give me another chance to go out here and be who I can be,” Jackson said of his new team. “And that’s all I can ask for. It was an easy decision.”
In terms of the benching in the middle of last season, it so frustrated Jackson he suggested his audience speak to the Jaguars’ coaches.
“They told me I wasn’t playing the run too good,” Jackson said. “And that’s all I really heard. But if you’re asking me, coming off the Pro Bowl (season) the year before, I don’t think that’s a valid excuse. I think I played good against the run, to be honest with you. But I just play. They make the decisions.”
The Eagles later confirmed they’d acquired wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who they cut six years ago, and a future seventhround draft pick from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a sixth-rounder this spring. Jackson wanted out and he told head coach Bruce Arians he preferred the Eagles.
Decent haul that the Jackson 2 are, they’re not enough to warrant an offseason Eagles cheer, much less strike fear into the hearts of the Dallas Cowboys. Not in light of what the neighbors have done.
After all, the Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million contract, among other additions, while the Sixers imported talents Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris to the Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid Show. Even the Flyers are trending up.
Malik Jackson has been productive and durable. The 29-yearold veteran has played in 117 straight regular season games. The streak is 121 in a row including playoffs.
Though Jackson had just 3.5 sacks last year, he had 18 sacks,
42 quarterback hits and 28 tackles for loss in his stint with the Jaguars. His return over the long haul has been impressive. Since 2015, he ranks in the top 10 among defensive tackles with 23 sacks, 36 tackles for loss and 15 passes defensed.
Jackson (6-5, 295) played a significant role in helping the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers, 24-10, in Super Bowl 50.
Jackson scored the first touchdown of the game on a fumble recovery by Cam Newton. He also contributed five tackles, including one for loss, playing 72 percent of the snaps in the biggest game of the season.
Afterward the Broncos had to pay edge rusher Von Miller, the SB 50 MVP. Jackson benefited all the way to the bank as he signed with the Jaguars for an obscene six-year, $85 million deal, with
$30.5 million guaranteed. Jackson expects to get more opportunities this year playing alongside All-Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.
“I see myself coming in here and just helping,” he said. “It’s not like Jacksonville where I had to come in and be the guy. I’m coming to a team that already has leaders. With Fletcher Cox next to me, it should allow me to have one-on-one rushes. He’s a force to be reckoned with. He demands double-teams. So hopefully I can come in here, do what I’m supposed to do and take the doubleteams off him.”
Jackson had a faux pas describing the Eagles’ defensive line.
“Coming in here with these four guys, Bennett, um,” Jackson said. “Excuse me, Barnett, (Brandon) Graham and Fletcher, I mean, hell I don’t think there’s a better D-line in the league.”
The Eagles aren’t done. In the Jacksons, Malik and DeSean, the Birds have one more proven interior pass rusher and deep threat than they did last season.
At the same time the Eagles traded arguably their best pass rusher, Michael Bennett, and a seventh-round pick for to the New England Patriots for a fifthround choice. The deal is being firmed up.
DeSean Jackson has averaged a hefty 17.4 yards a catch over
11 seasons, the last two with the Buccaneers. Four of his five 1,000yard seasons came with the Eagles, the last in 2013.
Jackson averaged a league-best
18.4 yards per reception last year, although he missed four games due to injuries. He owns the NFL career mark of 24 touchdown receptions of 60-or more yards, although he’s had just one since tying the mark set by Jerry Rice against the Eagles last September.
The injuries are the downside. DeSean hasn’t played a complete
16-game season since 2013, after which then Eagles head coach Chip Kelly cut him because there were no trade takers.
Malik Jackson probably isn’t enough to make Eagles fans forgive the front office for not pursuing previously available difference-makers, including Bell, Brown and Beckham, get away.
But Malik Jackson is still getting over the hurt.
“I feel like I was part of the culture change,” Jackson said. “To get benched for younger guys and guys that aren’t drafted hurts.”