Cleveland Browns: Deshaun Watson would love adding DeSean Jackson

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson recently shared his interest in having veteran wide receiver Desean Jackson join the club

An interesting development in a potential wide receiver addition for the Cleveland Browns came alive recently as Desean Jackson, a 15-year All-Pro veteran, who was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008, put out an Instagram post showing him in a Browns uniform. In this post, he tagged Deshaun Watson, who later reposted the message indicating his liking of the idea of the two playing together with the Browns.

Earlier in the week, Jackson had shared his interest in possibly returning to the NFL after contemplating retirement in an article with Sports Illustrated and reporter Ashley Nicole Moss. He listed four teams he’d consider returning to in which he included Cleveland.

Jackson led the NFL in yards per catch four times in his stellar career. He’s collected 11,110 career yards and 58 touchdowns over that span. He broke into the league back in 2008 where he helped the Eagles reach the playoffs right off the bat.

They won a few games but lost in the NFC Championship to the Arizona Cardinals. He’s been to the playoffs since but hasn’t been on a team that won a playoff game since that season.

Jackson indicated other teams like the Kansas City Chiefs or the Green Bay Packers because of their quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers. He obviously wants to play for a winning team and get to a Super Bowl and thus his interest in joining Watson here in Cleveland.

The last three seasons for Jackson have been relatively quiet as he’s not collected more than 454 yards in any of those seasons. His career though still suggests a player that could provide that extra veteran presence on a very young Browns team that may help the team in the long run.

Players such as Jackson are now interested in playing for Cleveland because of the addition of Watson and while the team can’t sign everyone, a player like Jackson might be available at a very inexpensive cost. He made $1 million a year ago and would likely not cost the Browns any more than that.

While Cleveland has looked at other free-agent wide receivers like Will Fuller, who was a former teammate of Watson when he was the quarterback with the Houston Texans, the cost to bring in Fuller might be too steep. The Browns will also be centering their attention on drafting a new wide receiver or two in the NFL draft starting on Thursday.

After the draft, the Browns may look at Jackson more closely depending on how the draft pans out. Until then, it’s a new place for a Browns team to be in when veteran All-Pro players like Jackson request playing on their team.

Having Watson join the team has certainly attracted many players to join the Browns. Is it enough to get to that elusive Super Bowl? Time will tell.