NFL Free Agency Rumors: Bucs are a ‘possible destination’ for DeSean Jackson

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers need a wide receiver, and we talked about the potential of Terrelle Pryor in that role yesterday. Another name just came up: speedster DeSean Jackson who, according to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, has “an existing rapport” with Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston.

Jackson is, of course, the prototypical diva receiver, who is also one of the most explosive wide receivers in the NFL of the past decade. He produced 56 catches for 1,005 yards last year — though his production has waxed and waned over the years.

What’s interesting about Jackson is how productive he is despite being fairly one-dimensional: he can run. Really really really fast. And that’s mostly what sets him apart from other wide receivers: his speed. And yet, that speed remains gamebreaking if inconsistent.

There’s a problem there: Jameis Winston has not been great on his deep accuracy, and that is an issue if you’re throwing to smaller speedster whose main appeal is running fast. Mike Evans is easy to throw to given his size, and even those deep balls often go badly. Jackson can compensate for some of that when he’s in the open field, but it’s not an ideal match by any means.

There’s also age. At some point Jackson will slow down, and that point may be approaching fast. Jackson is 30 already, and he won’t be able to keep it up forever. One ex-Buc is an interesting comparison here: Joey Galloway, who the Bucs picked up when he was 33. They got four good years out of him, which is pretty impressive given his age, and then he collapsed.

So that’s a lot of pros and cons and I still don’t know whether Jackson coming to Tampa would be a good idea. But it sure would be interesting.