DeSean Jackson Tampa Bay Buccaneers Contract Analysis

Total Value – Three years, $33,500,000 – $11.2M APY

FOF Projection – Four years, $38,000,000 – $9.5M APY

DeSean Jackson Contract Length

Three years seems about for a 30 year old whose game relies on speed. Jackson will be 33 when he hits the free agent market again after the 2019 season.

DeSean Jackson Contract Compensation

Without taking incentives into accounts, Jackson received the highest average per year of all wide receivers in free agency this year. His $11.2-million APY makes him the 9^th highest-paid receiver in the NFL. Collecting No. 1 receiver money—at 30 years old—to be the No. 2 in Tampa Bay is a nice spot to be in. Jackson has a $12.5-million year-one cashflow, in the form of a $6.5-million base salary and a $6-million roster bonus.

DeSean Jackson Contract Guarantees

Jackson didn’t receive a signing bonus, but his 2017 base salary is fully guaranteed, and $7.5 million of his $11-million 2018 base is also fully guaranteed. There’s little chance that the team releases him in 2018 due to that full guarantee. Jackson is safe for the first two years of the deal, collecting at least $23.5 million.

DeSean Jackson Contract Cap Hits

Jackson’s cap numbers decrease each year of the contract, culminating with a $10-million charge in 2019. The cap charges are reasonable enough for Jackson to get through all three seasons and earn the entirety of the $33.5-million contract. Tampa Bay has no obligations to him beyond 2018 and can release him before the 2019 season with no cap ramifications.

DeSean Jackson Contract Summary

Jackson’s recorded 1,000-yard receiving seasons in three of the last four seasons. Although he’s not the top-ten receiver his contract would suggest, he did enter the market still showing two things: he still possesses elite speed, and he can turn that speed into production. The thing I like about the deal is the decreasing cap hits from 2017-2019, which give him a better chance of remaining on the roster at age 32, the final year of his deal, when his speed may not be what it is today. Speed is certainly a depreciating asset. Jackson gives Tampa Bay a vertical threat who can stretch the field and open things up underneath and a perfect complement for Mike Evans size and physicality on the other side.

*Contract information from Over The Cap, Spotrac, Pro Football Talk, and/or other sources.