Philadelphia Eagles Must Give DeSean Jackson Franchise Tag Next Season

The Philadelphia Eagles have had a lot of problems this season. One of those problems has been the issues of player DeSean Jackson. Coach Andy Reid needs to stop taking the fall though for Jackson's behavior. With Jackson's behavior this season, the Eagles may be best to move on from their star wideout; but they shouldn't do so without getting anything in return.

The Eagles must franchise tag Jackson at the end of this season. If they do so, they will own his rights and they will at least get something in return for him. If a team wants to sign Jackson away from the Eagles, Philadelphia will receiver two first-round draft picks. Otherwise, they could just trade him to a team that wants him.

Teams could assume that the Eagles would eventually feel forced to cut ties with the player if they couldn't move him, but it wouldn't be surprising to see a team or two come calling if they need a game-changing player or someone goes down early on in the season.

Jackson certainly has been a problem this season. He started out the season holding out on a new contract. Ultimately he never got that deal, but he returned to the team. Certainly he was unhappy, but he was in a contract year so he needed to play.

Following a poor performance in Thursday night's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, many have been questioning Jackson and his future with the team. He doesn't seem interested, and he is growing as a locker room cancer each week. The Eagles' fall this season definitely hasn't helped his cause, but he isn't alone in being unhappy with the team's performance. The issue is he is apart of the fall.

Recently, he was deemed ineligible by the team for missing a team meeting. Due to missing that meeting, he was forced to sit out of the game against the Arizona Cardinals. That was a game the Eagles lost at home but likely could have won with Jackson in the lineup.

Two weeks later, Jackson was benched once again for dropping touchdown passes in a loss to the New England Patriots. There is no doubt about the impact that Jackson can have on any play, so there has to be more to his benching. One would have to argue that his behavior is related to his contract situation and his state of play this season. Clearly Jackson isn't having the year he wanted, but he isn't helping himself with his behavior at all.

If Jackson was to be franchised by the team, they would at least retain his rights. At this point in time, one can't imagine that the Eagles want to lose out on Jackson. He has proven time and time again that he is a dangerous player.

He just isn't fitting in Philly.

The Eagles could certainly get much in return for the talented receiver/returner, so they best put themselves in position to do so without losing out.

Philadelphia has a great coach in Reid, and there is no reason that he should be taking the fall for his players. Reid may be on the hot seat, but he has proven time and time again that he is one of the best coaches in the league. Before putting Reid's job on the line, the Eagles need to clean out the locker room of potential problems and start with a clean slate.