As the Eagles make a last-ditch effort to pull themselves back into the NFC wild-card race, they need to climb over several teams. At a minimum, they need to get past the third-place team in their division: Washington.
And now that Washington receiver DeSean Jackson knows that the Eagles are likely to make a strong push to sign him in free agency, Jackson will have that reality bouncing around inside his head during the final five games of the regular season. Which should make Washington upset about the report.
It’s hard to know with certainty the impact this information will have on Jackson. Will he go out and play even harder in order to attract others to the table? Or will he be more inclined to make “business decisions” aimed at ensuring he’ll be 100 percent when it’s time to take a Philly physical?
Regardless, it’s information he’s not supposed to currently have. And even if no one from the Eagles has told Jackson or his agent on a wink-nod basis that Philly may come calling, the mere fact that ESPN has reported on the plan to pursue Jackson means that someone with the Eagles has made it known that the team intends to try to bring Jackson back -- which constitutes a violation of the tampering rules.
Earlier this year, the NFL whacked the Chiefs for speaking directly to former Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin during the legal tampering period in 2015, when the Chiefs were permitted to speak only to Maclin’s agent. This potential violation strikes more directly at the heart of the rule, putting Jackson on notice as his contract in Washington comes to an end that another team in the same division is ready and willing to sign him to a new one.