Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune stated on Tuesday that receiver Vincent Jackson will play under the $11.3 million franchise tag for the Chargers in 2011.

From Rotoworld.com:

“Vincent Jackson will be a Charger, and that’s the bottom line,” Acee said. Jackson “very much” wants to stay in San Diego, though Acee stops short of predicting that one of the “hardest working and most intelligent” players he’s ever covered will end up inking a long-term deal with the Bolts. The Boston Globe’s Greg Bedard hears that Jackson, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady have “softened their stance” on free agency after Tuesday’s public backlash.

That “backlash” included Vikings punter Chris Kluwe posting this on Twitter: “Sigh, and once again greed is the operative byword. Congrats Brees, Manning, Mankins, and Jackson for being ‘that guy’. #douchebags.”

What has angered guys like Kluwe is how both Manning and Brees requested exemptions from the franchise tag as part of the NFL’s new CBA, with Jackson and Mankins essentially doing the same thing. This has led some to believe that the four players would hold up the labor negotiations in order to negotiate their own side deals, which obviously looks mega selfish on the part of Manning, Brees, Mankins and Jackson. But Adam Schefter said that he doubts these “side deals” would impede the progress that the players and owners have made in constructing a new CBA deal.

Getting back to Jackson, if he ever winds up hitting the open market he should cash in big time. Receivers that have soft hands, are willing to block, and can stretch defenses vertically don’t fall off trees. All things considered, he might be the most valuable receiver in the league. (That is, when he’s actually on the field and not either suspended or holding out in a contract dispute.)

Fans hoping that their favorite team had a shot at acquiring free agent Vincent Jackson this offseason may have to wait another year. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jackson expects the Chargers to use their franchise tag on him in 2011.

Jackson, according to someone familiar with the player’s thinking, expects the tag and plans to play for the more than $10 million it would guarantee him.

That is, if the franchise tag is part of a new CBA.

The NFL Players Association says teams have no right to a franchise tag since the current Collective Bargaining Agreement will expire March 3. The NFL says the franchise tag is included in the CBA under which the league is operating.

I have to side with the NFLPA on this one. If the current CBA deal is set to expire March 3, then how is it fair that teams can use their franchise tags for the 2011 season when the current contract applied to the 2010 season? I get that the NFL wants to keep things business as usual because it believes that a new deal will eventually be worked out. But how about the league just work on getting a new deal in place before worrying about whether or not teams can use their franchise tags. If the owners and NFLPA agree to a new CBA deal, then everything can go back to normal and all of this becomes a moot point.

Getting back to Jackson, his situation comes down to money. He sat out most of last season because the Chargers were only willing to pay him for one year at $3.2 million. If he’s tagged for the 2011 season, he’ll make roughly $10 million for one year and then the Chargers can let him walk in 2012 while accepting a future compensatory draft pick.

For those that were waiting for the Chiefs to collapse and for the Chargers to pull the AFC West crown out of their rear ends, your wait is over.

It ain’t happening.

The Chargers choked in Cincinnati on Sunday, losing to the Bengals, 34-20. And actually, choked isn’t the right word. Choked means that they had an opportunity to win and blew it in the end. But seeing as how the Bengals led the entire game and generally pounded San Diego for four quarters, “choked” doesn’t describe the Chargers.

San Diego fans probably knew that their team’s demise was forthcoming. The Chargers got off to another slow start and even though they started smacking teams in November, their loss to the Raiders a couple of weeks ago and their defeat on Sunday inevitably did them in. Their win over the Brodie Croyle-led Chiefs must seem like years ago.

Maybe if Vincent Jackson had played the entire season, things would have been different. Maybe if Antonio Gates had been healthy, things would have been different. Maybe…

It doesn’t matter. The Chargers are done and the Chiefs are your 2010 AFC West division champions. Who saw that coming in preseason?

When news broke late yesterday that both Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates would miss Thursday night’s game against the 49ers, I immediately bumped Vincent Jackson up to #13 in my WR rankings, figuring he was a fringe WR1/great WR2 play for Week 15. I was hesitant to move him up any further (though a few other pundits did) because he hadn’t done anything to that point and had been battling a calf injury since his return to action. I try not to overreact to news like that as it tends not to pay off.

All Jackson did was catch five passes for 112 yards and three TDs on just seven targets.

But did anyone start him? According to ESPN’s fantasy football data, only 16.8% of his owners had him in their starting lineups. So either a) they were asleep when the Floyd news broke or b) they didn’t feel comfortable starting a guy who hadn’t done anything all season. It’s possible (though unlikely) that owners had two or three better, more trustworthy options at WR, but I suspect most owners were gun-shy. It’s understandable, but those owners with V-Jax on their bench are going to be kicking themselves if they lose this week.

For those that did start him, it has to be sweet relief. All of the patience it took to allow him to eat up a roster spot with no promise of quality production, and then the guy comes out and posts the kind of fantasy line that could single-handedly swing the outcome of a fantasy semifinal…talk about clutch.

Vincent Jackson and his agent know that if V-Jax doesn’t play in at least six games this season, then he won’t become eligible to sign with another team as an unrestricted free agent after this season.

That’s why it’s no surprise to hear his representative Neil Schwartz say on Thursday that V-Jax will sign what’s left of his prorated $583,000 tender and join the Chargers on October 29.

Jackson still must sit out three games due to his Roster Exempt status, which means he won’t play until Week 12 at the earliest. Given the Chargers’ early-season struggles this year, they can take all the help they can get, when they can get it.

If he’s motivated (which is a big question mark), Jackson is a complete player. He can stretch a field, he’s a weapon in the red zone and he’s arguably the best blocker in the league from the wideout position. He has also reportedly kept in good shape because he was hoping to be traded by this point. He’ll help the Chargers once he reports.

Of course, this isn’t about helping the Chargers for Jackson. It’s about accruing the six games needed so he can become a free agent at the end of the year. Neither he nor his agent want to deal with GM A.J. Smith and go through all of this again next offseason.

You think it’s hard to predict the games and standings from week to week? Try picking MVP candidates. There are five or six different candidates emerging every week. We’ll do this as one post again today and start separating them out next week. And I’m sure by this time Tuesday everything will be turned upside down again. Enjoy the games today everyone!

MVP Power Rankings

1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He didn’t play last week and yet the Eagles still won, but barely, on the road in San Fran. Against a team that still hasn’t won a game yet. And hence my case is made again. And when Kolb and the Eagles lose at home to the Falcons today, fans in Philly will be chanting Vick’s name, which will have made my case again.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the end, Vincent Jackson’s situation was rather predictable.

The player’s union has been telling agents for months that players who held out will be unrestricted free agents after season, even if they sat out all of 2010. However, players still have to be on the roster for six games in order to get an accrued season and thus become unrestricted.

That’s why it isn’t surprising to hear that V-Jax will report to the Chargers by the end of the month. He wants a new contract and if he holds out all year, he may never get one because he would still be under the Chargers and GM A.J. Smith’s thumb. If he’s on the roster for six games, he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and then he can seek his millions elsewhere.

But nobody really wins here. People will say that Jackson and his agent got one over on Smith, but the GM isn’t dumb – he knows what they were going to do and I doubt he even cares at this point. Smith has made it clear that Jackson has no future with the Chargers so he might as well sign off on his return (Smith has to agree to Jackson returning to the roster), get six weeks out of him (Jackson isn’t eligible to return until Week 12) and then bid him ado at the end of the year.

What happens if Jackson blows out his knee in the final six games of the season? Then what would have this all been about? What if other teams have been turned off by the way he handled things in San Diego? Then there wouldn’t be a big market for him and thus, he may have to accept less than what he and his agent think he’s worth.

V-Jax may get his big contract next year but as of this moment, he rolled the dice and he came up snake eyes – for everyone.

I mean, I know why they would. He can stretch the field with his speed, he’s a big target, he can block and they’re in need of a receiver.

But why would the Patriots trade for Vincent Jackson?

Ever since the Pats traded Randy Moss on Wednesday, rumors have circulated that they’re going to pull off a trade for the disgruntled Jackson. But as John Clayton, Adam Schefter and anyone else with a functional brain notes, this deal isn’t going to happen.

The Patriots don’t believe in spending top dollar on a receiver, which is why they traded their No. 1 wideout to Minnesota two days ago when they only have Wes Welker, Brandon Tate and Julian Edelman on their roster. And let’s not forget why Jackson is holding out in the first place: He wants to get paid.

Why would Bill Belichick orchestrate a trade to ship Moss out of town and then turn around and acquire another unhappy receiver looking for a new contract? Furthermore, why would he go head-to-head with San Diego GM A.J. Smith when he knows Smith is looking for two early round picks for V-Jax? It just doesn’t make any sense.

This isn’t Madden ’11. You can’t just plug a player into any situation and have everything work out in the end. Jackson isn’t a fit for the style of offense that New England runs and it appears as though Belichick is changing his offensive approach anyway.

V-Jax to the Pats isn’t going to happen unless Belichick and Smith wake up one morning and decide to completely change the way they’ve ran football teams for the past decade.

The 4:00PM ET deadline for Vincent Jackson to be traded has come and gone without the Chargers making a deal. That means V-Jax will face his full suspension and will be ineligible to play before Week 7.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings made a “last ditch-effort” to try and trade for Jackson, but San Diego GM A.J. Smith declined the offer. It’s rumored that Smith was looking for both a second round pick and a third round pick for Jackson, but Minnesota was only willing to offer a second rounder and a conditional pick in 2011.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Vikings’ offense continues to fare without Sidney Rice after they decided not to acquire Jackson, who may wind up sitting out the reminder of the season. Percy Harvin is reportedly dealing with migraines again, so the receiver situation in Minnesota is getting bleaker by the day.

According to Yahoo’s Jason Cole, the Chargers have rejected the Vikings’ offer of a second round pick and a conditional pick in 2011 for receiver Vincent Jackson. San Diego reportedly wants a second and a third round selection for V-Jax.

The Chargers may ultimately get little or nothing for Jackson if he, his agents and the team that eventually signs him has their way. The indication from two sources is that Jackson may structure a long-term contract with another team that includes very little money in the first year, a key component for how compensatory draft picks are determined.

Both Chargers general manager A.J. Smith and agent Neil Schwartz, who represents Jackson, declined to discuss the situation.

All three sources were pessimistic about a deal getting done with either the Vikings or an unidentified team that is willing to sign Jackson to a long-term deal. The Chargers have until 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday to trade Jackson so that he can play by the fifth game of the season with a team that acquires him.

Only the Vikings could leave me wanting to put my hand in an electric saw rather than talk about the same topic over and over and over again. (Ahem – BRETT FAVRE, ahem. Sorry…got something caught in my throat.)

After another dismal effort by Lord Favre and Minnesota’s offense on Sunday, I wrote about how the Vikings may just want to trade for V-Jax and get the situation over. Click here to check out my thoughts on the subject.