Bucs publicly challenging DeSean Jackson to earn his big paycheck

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed DeSean Jackson to a three-year, $33.5 million contract this offseason, and they want to make sure he is as focused as possible heading into his first season with the team.

Bucs offensive coordinator Todd Monken is expecting Jackson to be a “great player” given how much money the 30-year-old wide receiver is making, and he has not been shy about stating that publicly.

“How can we get DeSean Jackson up to playing at a really high level? Not that he’s still not capable of it, but how do we get him to play at what we paid him?” Monken said last week, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I’ve told him that, ‘We have paid you a hell of a lot of money to be a (very) good player. … We don’t have any old street cred that we’re paying you. No. We need you to be a great player now. Okay? That’s why we gave you the money.'”

It almost sounds as if the Bucs want fans to know they are well aware of Jackson’s reputation for not playing hurt and giving less than 100 percent effort when he’s unhappy. Monken even took things a step further, noting that Jackson only signed with Tampa Bay because of the money.

“You came here because of the money. Don’t give me all that bull about you came here because of the weather and Jameis,” he said. “No. You came here because we paid you the most. You need to play like that. He gets that. He’s smart enough to understand that.”

That’s an interesting way of talking about your biggest offseason acquisition before he has even played a snap with the team. But when you read one report about another team that was interested in Jackson, you’ll understand where Monken is coming from.

The Bucs clearly know they took a risk by giving Jackson more than $10 million per year.