2012 NFL Free Agents: Why Vincent Jackson Should Be Browns' Top Priority

It's certainly no secret that acquiring offensive playmakers is a top priority of the Cleveland Browns this offseason, as the Browns ranked a moribund 29th in the National Football League in total offense last year and often times looked worse than that ranking indicates.

Luckily for the Browns, the team is in a financial position to make a splash in free agency, with a reported $21 million in cap room, and there is a deep crop of wide receivers that could potentially hit the open market.

Of that group, there's one player that stands out both as a player that fills the Browns' needs at the position and someone that the Browns have a genuine shot at actually signing, and it's that player that the Cleveland front office should have at the top of their wish list on March 13th.

That player is San Diego Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

There are some bigger and younger names on the list of impending free agent wideouts, but players such as Wes Welker of the New England Patriots and Dwayne Bowe of the Kansas City Chiefs will likely receive the franchise tag rather than hit the open market, and others, such as DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles, don't really mesh well with the Browns' West Coast offense as it's constituted right now.

That leaves the 29-year-old Jackson, who logged his third 1,000-yard season in four years in 2011, as the top available option. Given how tumultuous Jackson's last few seasons with the Chargers have been, with injuries and holdouts clouding the sun in San Diego, both Jackson and the Chargers front office may well feel it's time to move on, or at the very least let Jackson test the market.

If Jackson does hit the market, the Browns should be ready to make him a fairly significant offer, as he would instantly become far and away the best wide receiver on Cleveland's roster, and at 6'5" would present whoever is under center for the Browns in 2012 with a big target in the red zone.

That's assuming, of course, that the Browns ever get to the red zone.

Signing Vincent Jackson isn't going to magically solve all of the Cleveland Browns' offensive woes overnight, but acquiring the two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver is a step in the right direction that the Browns can take to address the problem, and more importantly it's a step the team should take.