National Football League: Vincent Jackson suspended for 3 games
On Tuesday, the official announcement finally came out into the media. The San Diego Charger’s wide receiver Vincent Jackson is to be suspended without pay for 3 games in a row for the coming season. Jackson was reported to have violated the league’s “Personal Conduct Policy.” While the exact details were not made available, Jackson’s guilty plea to a “Driving Under Influence” charge earlier this year is thought to be the cause. The DUI was not the first time for Jackson but he has filed an appeal against the suspension.
The Chargers of course were not happy with the decision or with Jackson’s behaviour leading to it. General Manager A.J Smith said that it would be the Chargers who would eventually have to bear the burden of Jackson’s mistakes. “It’s unfortunate, but we’ll deal with it and move on,” he said. The 3 game suspension means that Jackson would not be able to play for the chargers until the October 3 home contest against Arizona.
The suspension does not apply to preseason activities or games and Jackson, if he chose to, could attend the off-season workouts. It is unlikely though that Jackson would make use of that provision. Jackson and the San Diego Chargers have been locked in a fierce contract negotiation. Jackson has been threatening to wait out of the first 10 games of the season in order to put pressure on the Chargers to reconsider his demands. The Chargers have not shown any interest in acquiescing to his contract demands.
Jackson turned down a $3.268 million tender. Following the refusal to sign, the Chargers reduced his salary by the absolute NFL minimum of 110 percent of his 2009 salary which comes out as $583,000. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Jackson is looking for a contract in the vicinity of $47 million over four years, not unlike the arrangement between Brandon Marshall and the Miami Dolphins.
Perhaps the only ones rejoicing at this turn of events would be the other Charger’s receivers. As Vincent Jackson would be unable to play at the very least in the first three games against the Chiefs, Jaguars, and the Seahawks, everyone else on the team being overshadowed by Jackson would give it their all to make their mark in his absence. The Chargers too would make the best use of the opportunity to filter out players who could possibly replace Jackson. Jackson is an NFL star and of course won’t be easily replaced. If, however, his replacements could hold their own enough to not make his absence painfully obvious, it would make Jackson’s $50 million contract a lot less pivotal.
That, still, would only serve as a bargaining chip for the Chargers. As long as it can be helped, the Chargers won’t release a play maker like Vincent Jackson. There is no real replacement for him in the free agency waters at present either. The other option available to the chargers is perhaps trading Vincent. There are teams out there who would, even if the chargers won’t, pay large sums of money to have Jackson on their team. The draft picks the Chargers would be compensated with in such an event would be significant.
The teams interested in Jackson would include the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks have been, somewhat successfully it must be noted, rebuilding themselves. The Seahawks are also one of the teams that could afford Jackson’s salary. Also on the lookout are the Washington Redskins.
Last season was particularly productive for Jackson as he caught a career high setting, 68 passes for 1,167 yards and 9 touchdowns. In total, Jackson has 198 received passes adding 3,400 yards over his 5 season career with the Chargers. Jackson is certainly a valuable player even with the public relations nightmare he causes and would be an immediate offensive boast to any team that signs him.
On Tuesday, the official announcement finally came out into the media. The San Diego Charger’s wide receiver Vincent Jackson is to be suspended without pay for 3 games in a row for the coming season. Jackson was reported to have violated the league’s “Personal Conduct Policy.” While the exact details were not made available, Jackson’s guilty plea to a “Driving Under Influence” charge earlier this year is thought to be the cause. The DUI was not the first time for Jackson but he has filed an appeal against the suspension.
The Chargers of course were not happy with the decision or with Jackson’s behaviour leading to it. General Manager A.J Smith said that it would be the Chargers who would eventually have to bear the burden of Jackson’s mistakes. “It’s unfortunate, but we’ll deal with it and move on,” he said. The 3 game suspension means that Jackson would not be able to play for the chargers until the October 3 home contest against Arizona.
The suspension does not apply to preseason activities or games and Jackson, if he chose to, could attend the off-season workouts. It is unlikely though that Jackson would make use of that provision. Jackson and the San Diego Chargers have been locked in a fierce contract negotiation. Jackson has been threatening to wait out of the first 10 games of the season in order to put pressure on the Chargers to reconsider his demands. The Chargers have not shown any interest in acquiescing to his contract demands.
Jackson turned down a $3.268 million tender. Following the refusal to sign, the Chargers reduced his salary by the absolute NFL minimum of 110 percent of his 2009 salary which comes out as $583,000. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Jackson is looking for a contract in the vicinity of $47 million over four years, not unlike the arrangement between Brandon Marshall and the Miami Dolphins.
Perhaps the only ones rejoicing at this turn of events would be the other Charger’s receivers. As Vincent Jackson would be unable to play at the very least in the first three games against the Chiefs, Jaguars, and the Seahawks, everyone else on the team being overshadowed by Jackson would give it their all to make their mark in his absence. The Chargers too would make the best use of the opportunity to filter out players who could possibly replace Jackson. Jackson is an NFL star and of course won’t be easily replaced. If, however, his replacements could hold their own enough to not make his absence painfully obvious, it would make Jackson’s $50 million contract a lot less pivotal.
That, still, would only serve as a bargaining chip for the Chargers. As long as it can be helped, the Chargers won’t release a play maker like Vincent Jackson. There is no real replacement for him in the free agency waters at present either. The other option available to the chargers is perhaps trading Vincent. There are teams out there who would, even if the chargers won’t, pay large sums of money to have Jackson on their team. The draft picks the Chargers would be compensated with in such an event would be significant.
The teams interested in Jackson would include the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks have been, somewhat successfully it must be noted, rebuilding themselves. The Seahawks are also one of the teams that could afford Jackson’s salary. Also on the lookout are the Washington Redskins.
Last season was particularly productive for Jackson as he caught a career high setting, 68 passes for 1,167 yards and 9 touchdowns. In total, Jackson has 198 received passes adding 3,400 yards over his 5 season career with the Chargers. Jackson is certainly a valuable player even with the public relations nightmare he causes and would be an immediate offensive boast to any team that signs him.
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