Vincent Jackson Rumors: Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins Lead Pack for WR?

It appears as if the chances of the San Diego Chargers re-signing free-agent Vincent Jackson are dwindling rapidly. 

According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, they have no one else to thank but the Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears. The two clubs are widely expected to pursue Jackson with the kind of money that will push the Chargers out of the running.    

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Now he is bound for free agency, and it seems the Chargers might be both unwilling and unable to make a winning bid. It is believed the Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears will be the most aggressive of Jackson’s suitors.

The Chargers’ seeming resignation that Jackson will go somewhere else could be due in part to their having long been aware of a team – thought to be the Redskins – that will do almost whatever it takes to get Jackson.

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While losing Jackson would create a hole at receiver for the Chargers, the Bears and Redskins both have pressing needs at the position. 

Chicago has toiled in receiving mediocrity since the days of Marty Booker and Marcus Robinson, who each represent the last time the Bears have had a No. 1 quality receiver on the roster. Recent experiments with Roy Williams, Johnny Knox and Devin Hester have only served to prove the obvious need for receiver in Chicago.

The Bears did give Earl Bennett a contact extension last season, but he's not No. 1 receiver material. 

The Redskins, who gave up a draft fortune for the chance to draft Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III at No. 2 overall, now have an attractive potential landing spot for free agent receivers. All along, however, Washington's wallet was enough to put the nation's capital high on Jackson's list of free-agent destinations.

With Santana Moss aging rapidly and Jabar Gaffney nothing more than a stop-gap option, the Redskins need to address the position sometime in either free agency or the draft.  

In the end, money is likely to be the driving force. Money is driven by need. As Acee is told in his story, "He’s going to get more than you or I could ever imagine he would.”

What could Jackson's overall worth be?

Acee thinks that anything over $11 million a year is likely to push the Chargers out of the running. The Redskins would almost certainly be willing to make Jackson an offer that dwarfs that number. We can only speculate whether new Bears GM Phil Emery would pursue Jackson too far down a path that could push past $12-13 million a season, but the need is definitely real for Chicago.

The moral here: Jackson wants to get paid, and the Chargers are unlikely to get in any kind of bidding war for the 29-year-old receiver. From what Acee has felt out, the Bears and Redskins are the most likely to make sure that Jackson is playing outside of southern California next fall.