Jackson bides his time, for now

D.J. is not T.O. - at least not yet.

Despite playing with a contract that pays less than the going rate for Pro Bowl wide receivers, DeSean Jackson said Monday that he would "patiently wait" for a new deal.

"I'm not going to panic," Jackson said at Franklin Field, where he and teammates Brent Celek and Stewart Bradley were on hand  for the unveiling of plans to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1960 championship team. "I'm not going to sit here and be a crybaby about it. I definitely know what I'm worth."

After two seasons in the NFL, Jackson has cemented himself as one of the top playmakers in the game. Last year, he caught 62 passes for 1,156 yards, led the league with an average of 15.2 yards per punt return, and scored 12 touchdowns, eight of them 50-plus yards.

But the 23-year-old is relatively underpaid. Because he slipped into the second round of the 2008 draft - due in part to character and work-ethic concerns - Jackson didn't receive the big first-round contract his receiving counterpart, Jeremy Maclin, got last year from the Eagles.

Now in the third year of a four-year, $3.47 million deal, Jackson is set to earn $805,000 ($470,000 in base salary and a $335,000 roster bonus) this season. The Eagles likely would prefer to give Jackson an extension and lock him into a long-term deal.

But a new rule in the expiring collective bargaining agreement that limits a base salary increase to 30 percent for those playing under their rookie contracts has made an extension for Jackson unlikely.

"It's unfortunate, but you can't get frustrated," Jackson said, adding: "That's what I have an agent for."

That agent - the ubiquitous Drew Rosenhaus - has a reputation for trying to procure new deals mid-contract for his dissatisfied clients. He and the Eagles famously locked horns over receiver Terrell Owens in 2005. A message left for Rosenhaus was not returned Monday.

The Eagles had no comment.

Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb recently had his deal restructured even though he was curtailed by the 30-percent rule. Kolb, though, was in the last year of his deal. Jackson has two years left and would presumably need a larger signing bonus than the guaranteed $10 million-plus one Kolb received.

The Eagles may be unwilling to hand Jackson a large, up-front check because the CBA protects signing bonuses even if a player gets sent to prison (e.g. Michael Vick). In the end, it may be in Jackson's best interest to wait a year, see how the tenuous labor situation unfolds and then try for a long-term deal.

"Whatever it is I'd be happy with that," Jackson said. "I'm not here to make a big issue out of it or complain about it because that's not what I do. I feel my relationship that I have with the Eagles and the front office is a [good] one, and I'm patiently waiting. Hopefully, it will be done sooner than later."