Chargers' Jackson now available

The moratorium that precluded the San Diego Chargers from trading holdout wide receiver Vincent Jackson has come to an end.

Jackson is now available.

That leaves us with these questions: Will he be dealt and if he is traded when will that happen?

The speculation continues that the Vikings and Redskins are the teams most interested in Jackson. Brad Childress did little to quell that talk on Friday afternoon when he declined to say if the Vikings had asked the Chargers for permission to talk to Jackson's reps.

"He's really not a guy I'm able to speak about for the fact that he's their property," Childress said. "I wouldn't get into any speculation on anybody on anybody else's roster."

The key here, as has been pointed out numerous times in recents days, is that the ball is clearly in the Chargers' court. The decision on whether to move Jackson by next Wednesday (and thus give him a chance to return after four games) or continue to let him sit will be up to San Diego General Manager AJ Smith.

This has been a bitter divorce between the team and Jackson, so there appears no way he ever plays for San Diego again. If the Chargers don't get the type of compensation they want for Jackson, they will have the ability to sit on his rights (he's currently a restricted free agent) and let him eventually depart as an unrestricted free agent.

The Chargers, obviously, would like to do better than that, but teams covet their draft picks and the Vikings are no different. Would the Vikings be willing to give up a second-round pick, for instance, to rent Jackson's services for one season?

Then there also is the matter of when a potential trade might be made. The Chargers don't have to make a deal until 3 p.m. Wednesday. If no trade is made by that point, Jackson will have to sit out six games instead of four for any team team for which he plays.

That gives the Chargers enough time to play teams off each other as they field potential bids. The interested parties also might want to wait to announce anything until the Week 2 games are over so they don't create distractions. Jackson isn't going to help any team this weekend.

Another issue will be working out a deal with Jackson once permission is granted by the Chargers. Jackson would seem to be a very good one-year rental for the Vikings, who are without 6-foot-4 wide receiver Sidney Rice because of a hip injury.

Let's say the Vikings offer Jackson a one-year deal for something between $7 and $9 million. The Redskins could decide to make Jackson a multi-year offer, providing more security. In the end, both Jackson and the Chargers are going to have to be satisfied.