For much of his seven-year career with the Chargers, Vincent Jackson has been an unhappy camper. But with his best opportunity to leave San Diego approaching, Jackson says he wants to stay.
“I would like to stay in San Diego,” Jackson told NFL.com at the Pro Bowl. “Obviously, that’s my home, that’s where I was drafted.”
Jackson said he would prefer a long-term deal to another year of the franchise tag, although he doesn’t sound as militantly opposed to the franchise tag as he used to be.
“That’s something that’s out of my control,” he said. “I can’t concern myself with how that goes. I’d love to have a long-term deal, just to have security of where you’re going to be for a while. That’s a decision that they have to make.”
If the Chargers franchise Jackson again, he’d be guaranteed a salary of more than $13 million for the 2012 season. So the franchise tag isn’t exactly a bad deal. But the Chargers reportedly would rather avoid a contract for Jackson that hits this year’s salary cap that hard and would rather work out a long-term deal, too. Which means the Chargers and Jackson may finally work something out this offseason that makes both sides happy.