CSNPhilly Eagles Insider sheds light on Jackson’s off-field issues

Speculation regarding DeSean Jackson’s impending departure from the Eagles swirled for the past few weeks, but the process that led to it started long before that.

CSN’s Derrick Gunn -- who reported last week that the Eagles tried to trade Jackson last year -- spoke Friday on "Philly Sports Talk" and provided further insight into the potential reasoning behind the move, both football and non-football related.

“No. 1, since DeSean arrived in Philadelphia, he has been a problem off the field for the Eagles,” Gunn said. “There have been a number of nightclubs in the area that have basically told DeSean or told DeSean through second parties, ‘We don’t want you back in our nightclubs because he is a disruptive factor.’”

But Jackson's off-field antics/issues weren’t limited to Philly. He flaunted his Hollywood lifestyle -- remember the tweet with the $25,000 bar tab? -- and at one point allegedly owed former agent Drew Rosenhaus eight times that.

Then this offseason, there was the mystery regarding the burglary at his house. Initially it was reported that $250,000 in cash and jewelry were taken. Now, NBC10 has confirmed, Philadelphia Police admitted a mistake and the amount of cash is only $20,000. Also stolen was a gold and diamond watch worth $110,000 and a handgun.

And then, of course, the kicker: The NJ.com report that came out Friday detailing Jackson’s connection to a pair of Los Angeles gang members. The story quotes a source within the Eagles’ organization as saying the team is “concerned about having him around the younger players.”

Which brings us to Jackson the player -- or more specifically, the teammate.

“I talked to someone this morning that basically said that when a player is one of your highest paid players in the Eagles’ organization, especially with the new culture and the new attitude, the new direction they’re trying to build now in Chip Kelly’s regime,” Gunn said, “they expect you to hold yourself to a certain standard both in the locker room and outside the locker room as well.

“And there’s a lot of stuff that probably hasn’t even come out about DeSean yet that we’re going to find out in the days, weeks, months and even a year from now that we’re going to learn about, but he was not the kind of player in the locker room that the Eagles wanted to have an influence on the younger players.”

“I was told by a couple of sources that he did not have the best work ethic in the locker room.”

Which is nothing new; that was Jackson’s reputation coming out of Cal. But Jackson wasn’t the model employee, either.

“A team has exit interviews with each and every player. DeSean Jackson left the facility before he had his exit interview with the Eagles,” Gunn said.

But not before telling reporters he deserved a new contract.

Despite all of that, this story may be far from over.

“I am a little bit surprised that it happened [this early],” Gunn said of Jackson’s dismissal. “I thought the Eagles would hold onto him maybe until it got a little bit closer to the draft, maybe a few teams out there would be desperate enough to know that they’re in a position where they couldn’t’ draft a certain receiver that they want and that maybe a lot of the stuff was on the surface wasn’t as bad. But for the Eagles to just cut a guy in his prime coming off three Pro Bowls who can do a lot of damage as a wide receiver and a punt returner, that tells you this story is a lot bigger than even what we know of at this point.”