Paul Domowitch: Rosenhaus may be deal breaker for DeSean Jackson

And wherever you find an NFL player who feels he's underpaid, there's a very good chance you'll find Rosenhaus underneath a rock close by.

But Rosenhaus' reputation as a guy who can strong-arm NFL teams into tearing up old deals and giving his clients new ones with a lot more zeroes is more perception than reality.

Many think Jackson may have actually hurt his chances of getting a new deal from the Eagles by hiring Rosenhaus. Eagles president Joe Banner isn't a big fan of Mr. Next Question. They've had some contentious confrontations going back to Hugh Douglas' departure for Jacksonville and the infamous 2005 Battle of T.O.

"Obviously, the Eagles have shown they'll make exceptions for certain players," said an agent who has had several Eagles players as clients over the years. "And DeSean probably is in that special category of guys they might be willing to make an exception for.

"But the Eagles don't trust Drew and they don't want to deal with him. They don't want to give in to him and make him look good. I think if DeSean had any shot of [getting a new deal], he's lowered that chance by hiring Drew."

Rosenhaus did not respond to e-mail requests for comment.

Jackson, who led the team in receptions as a rookie and has scored six touchdowns in eight games this season, received a $1.35 million signing bonus and will make $385,000 in base salary this season, $470,000 next year and $555,000 in 2011. His deal also includes almost $400,000 in roster bonuses in the second and third years. Under league rules, he can't get a new deal until he completes his second season.

If he continues to play as well as he has been, it's entirely possible the Eagles will want to discuss a new long-term deal, though they probably will want to wait until the labor situation becomes a little clearer. And that might not be until 2011.

Tall tales

 

The Eagles' depleted secondary will be dealing with a significant size disadvantage Sunday in San Diego. The Chargers' two starting wide receivers, Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd, both are 6-5. Their slot receiver, Legedu Naanee, is 6-2.

"It presents a lot of challenges for us," said strong safety Quintin Mikell. "But we all study film and know what they try to do with their guys. There are going to be situations where the ball is in the air where we might be in a jump ball situation. We practice it all the time, even in training camp, because we're shorter guys. I think we'll be fine."

Mikell is just 5-10. So are starting cornerbacks Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown. So is Dimitri Patterson, who will replace suspended nickel corner Joselio Hanson. The tallest member of the Eagles' secondary is free safety Sean Jones, who is 6-1.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers throws a lot of balls up for grabs and lets his tall receivers use their height advantage to make plays.

"He's very good at throwing the ball up and away from the defender where they have a chance to use their height," Chargers coach Norv Turner said.

"It's interesting to see how people have defended us. We're getting a lot more press, and we're getting people up in their face thinking that, because they're that big, they can't get away from people. But Vincent in particular has done real well using his quickness and his athletic ability to get away from press coverage."

Sheldon Brown said the key for the Eagles Sunday will be getting pressure on Rivers.

"You can eliminate a lot of stuff if the guys up front get pressure," he said. "That's the game. If they dominate the line of scrimmage, it makes the day easy for us DBs and everybody on the back end."