After I looked at the money side of things, I had a change of heart on the situation. It's obvious that one of the reasons the Eagles are looking to trade DeSean is because of finances. DeSean's cap hit for this season is $12.75 million and his base salary is $10.5 million. If the Eagles were to trade or cut him, the dead money would be a mere $6.25 million. So, by moving Jackson the Eagles can save over $6 million on this year's cap hit and over $10 million of real money.
Although multi-player trade deals aren't very common, there is also the chance that Belichick has his eye on some Eagles' unknown player that he could get and develop on the cheap. Remember, last season the Eagles and Patriots took part in joint practices which gave both coaches the opportunity to assess each others' players for multiple days.
So, while I'm not sold on trading for DeSean Jackson for his services, I am supportive of it from a financial and periphery personnel standpoint. If the Patriots were to get Jackson on their roster, they could turn around and trade him for a player that we actually need or maybe use it on draft day. While you are probably thinking that entering into a $10.5 million contract with Jackson may be an expensive gamble to take, you do need to consider that only $250,000 is guaranteed.