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Chip Kelly wants us to believe Eagles cut DeSean Jackson because of his size

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

Now, before I get to Eagles coach Chip Kelly's outright lie about why Philadelphia cut receiver DeSean Jackson, I know why he did it.

Before Jackson's first game against Philadelphia since the Eagles cut him, Kelly was of course asked about why the team cut Jackson this past offseason. The Redskins signed Jackson shortly after he was cut. There were plenty of rumors about why the Eagles let him go, including one explosive story from NJ.com that said the team was worried about Jackson's possible gang activity.

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Whatever Kelly's real reason, Jackson was gone after a 1,332-yard, nine-touchdown season. And it serves Kelly no purpose to say the real reason. He doesn't want to make Jackson any more motivated than he already is, not to mention that he doesn't need the union looking into what his reason was.

So he went with an excuse that can be measured, literally. He said Jackson was too small for his offense.

"Yeah, just trying to build the overall team in terms of what we're looking for offensively and how we wanted to get bigger at the wideout spot and that's what we did," Kelly told the Washington media during a conference call, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Oh man, that's rich. When asked a follow up on Kelly's level of concern about Jackson's off-field character, Kelly replied, "Zero."

So let's get this straight. Kelly wants us to believe the Eagles cut Jackson because the 5-8, 178-pounder wasn't big enough for his offense, no matter that Jackson was one of the NFL's best receivers last year. Kelly is a pretty smart guy, and he's probably aware that a 6-6 guy who has 500 yards in a season isn't better for the Eagles than Jackson simply because he's tall. They don't give extra points in the NFL for height or weight. Jeremy Maclin (6-0, 198) doesn't get a 5-yard head start on cornerbacks because he weighs 20 pounds more than Jackson. Kelly's reason is dubious, to say the least.

But it's easy to understand. He has no reason to poke the bear this week. Just tell a ridiculous lie and move on to the next question, and hope Jackson (who says he plans to play Sunday despite a shoulder injury) isn't in full revenge mode by game time.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!