DeSean Jackson’s retirement will have to wait.
The greatest deep threat in NFL history is back in the NFL.
Jackson, who turns 36 in December, agreed to contract terms with the Ravens, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday afternoon.
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The Ravens will be his sixth team in the last seven years.
Over the weekend, Jackson announced on a podcast that he wasn’t ready to retire and wanted to play a 15th NFL season.
The Ravens are 3-3 and ranked 24th in passing offense. Their wide receivers have just 42 catches all year and are averaging just 98 yards per game. Tight end Mark Andrews has 57 targets this year – only 15 fewer than every Ravens WR combined.
Although Jackson and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh were both with the Eagles for long periods, they did not overlap. Harbaugh was named head coach of the Ravens in January of 2008, and the Eagles drafted Jackson in the second round out of Cal three months later. But both are very close with Andy Reid, who drafted Jackson and helped Harbaugh get an NFL head coaching job.
NFL
Jackson has 632 catches for 11,110 yards — 32nd-most in NFL history — along with 58 touchdowns in 14 seasons. He’s had five 1,000-yard seasons, made three Pro Bowls, led the NFL in yards per catch four times. Including punt returns and rushing touchdowns, he has 63 total TDs.
But Jackson’s specialty is catching deep balls, and he’s better at it than anybody else who ever played the game.
Jackson has scored an NFL-record 27 touchdowns of 60 or more yards, two more than Jerry Rice. Since he entered the league, he has 72 receptions of at least 40 yards.
His 17.6 career yards per catch is third-highest in NFL history by a player with at least 600 catches, behind only Hall of Famers Don Maynard and James Lofton.
Jackson spent his first six seasons with the Eagles and returned for 2019 and 2020, although injuries limited him to only eight gamers. He did catch touchdown passes of 51 and 53 yards from Carson Wentz in the 2019 opener vs. Washington, becoming the first Eagle since Jackson himself in 2009 with two 50-yard TDs in a game.
Jackson ranks third in Eagles history with 6,512 yards, behind only Harold Carmichael (8,978) and Pete Retzlaff (7,412).
He spent three years in Washington and two in Tampa before returning to the Eagles. He began last year with the Rams but asked for his release because he was unhappy with his playing time, and he finished the year with the Raiders while the Rams went on to win the Super Bowl.
Can Jackson still play?
He had two 100-yard games last year — one for the Rams, one for the Raiders — and had three catches of 55 yards or more. Despite limited playing time, he was one of only six NFL players with three 55-yard receptions. Among players with at least 20 catches, his 22.7 average was highest in the NFL and highest in NFL history by a player 34 or older.
Jackson and Rice are the only players in history with 60-yard touchdowns at least 14 years apart.
Jackson has reached the playoffs seven times but hasn’t played in a postseason victory since the Eagles beat the Giants in the 2008 conference semifinal round at the Meadowlands.
If he plays for the Ravens, Jackson will be the oldest receiver in the NFL. The Ravens play the Browns Sunday in Baltimore and the Buccaneers a week from Sunday in Tampa.
Jackson is only the sixth player remaining in the NFL from the 2008 draft, joining quarterbacks Matt Ryan of the Colts, Joe Flacco of the Jets and Chad Henne of the Chiefs, as well as Jets offensive tackle Duane Brown and Jackson’s new teammate with the Ravens, defensive tackle Calais Campbell.
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