It’s been nearly three days since Bruce Arians has been head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he’s already made a bold statement. A report by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport states that Arians wants to re-recruit Tampa Bay wide receiver DeSean Jackson back to the Buccaneers for the 2019 season.
“One of the first things that Bruce Arians did upon getting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers job was reach out to people about getting a phone number for DeSean Jackson,” Rapoport said in Saturday’s video report on NFL Network. “What B.A. intends to do, and they haven’t connected yet, what he intends to do is re-recruit DeSean Jackson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So what B.A. wants to do is keep him there and convince him that DeSean Jackson can be a big part of the offense with Arians now.”
Jackson during the 2018 campaign asked for a trade at the NFL’s trade deadline, in which the team decided to hold onto the speedster in hopes he and quarterback Jameis Winston would find a connection. Reason for optimism is low in Winston and Jackson finding chemistry because of the latter’s first two years worth of production in Tampa Bay.
Though Jackson may want out of Tampa Bay or not, the wide receiver still has one year remaining on his three year, $33.5-million deal he signed back in 2016. Jackson is owed $10-million this upcoming 2019 season. Arians’ hopes are to convince Jackson that he will have a huge role within his offense, even with Winston as the one throwing the passes.
Jackson found most of his success this 2018 season with backup Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing passes his way through the first three games. Despite cooling off his production after three games, Jackson finished the season with 774 yards on just 41 catches for a league-high 18.9 yards per catch average.
Arians’ wish may or may not come true, but it’s hard to see Jackson remaining in Tampa Bay next season as the club has a myriad of other needs, including offensive line and on defense.
