Former Buccaneers playmaker signs with Baltimore Ravens

The veteran still has a little juice left for the Ravens to squeeze.

The NFL Trade Deadline is only a few weeks away and teams around the league are exploring their options on the market and in free agency roughly a quarter of the way through the season.

In a contract year for quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens have struggled to get their passing game in sync. The Ravens traded former first-round pick and top wide receiver, Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, to Arizona over the offseason. Surprisingly, the franchise chose not to draft a wide receiver or sign a veteran during training camp.

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That hasn't paid off with young prospect Rashod Bateman recently dealing with an ankle injury. 

On Tuesday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that veteran playmaker and former Buccaneer, DeSean Jackson, is signing with the Baltimore Ravens for the remainder of the season. The team worked out Jackson earlier in the day, per his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

The #Ravens are signing veteran FA WR DeSean Jackson after his workout today, per agent @DrewJRosenhaus.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 18, 2022

Jackson joins a wide receiver unit of Bateman, Devin Duvernay, Tylan Wallace, James Proche II, and Demarcus Robinson that has combined for 41 catches for 580 yards and six touchdowns. In Bateman's two-game absence, the wide receivers have just 12 catches for 122 yards.

Lamar Jackson is averaging 7.1 yards per attempt through six games, his worst mark since his rookie season. DeSean Jackson may be well-traveled, but he should instantly be one of the top deep threats on the roster for the Ravens.

The 15-year pro averaged a career-high 22.7 yards per catch last season while spending time with the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. That included eight catches for 221 yards (27.6 YPR) and a touchdown with the Raiders.

He still has some explosiveness left and has spoken recently about wanting to play with Lamar Jackson. Now, DeSean Jackson will get that opportunity during the twilight of his career.

While spending time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chargers, and Raiders, Jackson has totaled 632 catches for 11,110 yards with 58 touchdowns in 176 games (158 starts). He's also returned four punts for touchdowns during his career. Jackson was named Second-Team All-Pro in 2009 and is a three-time Pro Bowler (2009, 2010, 2013).

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