He's not injured or being benched. No, it's much worse than that. 97.5 The Fanatic's Brian Seltzer tweeted this morning Jackson fired his agent and has elected to be represented by Drew Rosenhaus. The sound you hear is the collective groan from Eagles fans everywhere.
All hyperbole aside, the decision doesn't automatically require Jackson to become a pain in the ass in the locker room or immediately begin a lengthy holdout. It's simply upsetting the young star wide receiver chose to align himself with a notorious weasel like Rosenhaus. Clearly this move is about negotiating his next contract sooner rather than later.
Under current CBA rules, players are eligible for contract extensions after their second year of service. Jackson was expected to be a mid-first round pick in '08, but slipped to late in the second based on concerns over his size and attitude, costing him millions of dollars in the process. Now that he's proven to be one of the most explosive players in the league, there's no doubt he wants to cash in, and Rosenhaus is known to drive a hard bargain.
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Sure, the front office would like to give Jackson a raise and keep him around for awhile, but the T.O. and "Lee-toe" sagas left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. Rosenhaus does represent a number of current Eagles however, including Jack Ikegwuonou, Cornelius Ingram, Max Jean-Gilles, and LeSean McCoy, although all of those players are still on their rookie contracts. On his firm's web site, he also lists Hugh Douglas and Troy Vincent as "distinguished retired clients."
As fans, we can only hope that this stuff stays where it belongs, behind the scenes. Nobody wants the drama of another pouty wide receiver, or an extended holdout that potentially keeps him off the field. It just seems like whenever those things go on, Rosenhaus is right in the center of it.