TAMPA — From the outside looking in, it didn’t seem to make much sense. The San Diego Chargers were still playoff contenders, after all. They were at least as long as they still had two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Vincent Jackson on their roster.
Yet, there they were in the spring of 2012, at first passing on the opportunity to secure Jackson’s elite-level services by applying the franchise tag to him, and then watching impassively as he walked out the door to test the free-agent market.
For those on the inside, however, it made sense. In particular, it made sense to then-Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik, who knew a little something about Jackson and the breakup with the Chargers that many on the outside didn’t.