DeSean Jackson was welcoming of the franchise tag when new broke that the Eagles would use it on him and now it appears that he'll be signing it the first chance he gets.

DeSean Jackson expected to sign franchise tender Tuesday.

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) March 13, 2012

The franchise tag values were just announced over the weekend and the new league year starts tomorrow, so Jackson getting officially back in the fold so soon can only be seen as a good thing. Not only does it mean he'll be a part of the entire offseason program, but he and the Eagles can get to the business of working out a long term deal.

As we've said before, the franchise tag works pretty well for both sides right now. Not only does it guarantee Jackson that this season he'll make three times what he has in his whole career, but it gives the Eagles a chance to see a few other WRs sign so the market for Jackson is really fleshed out. It could very well be by next week that Stevie Johnson (already signed), Vincent Jackson, Marques Colston and Laurent Robinson are all signed. That would give the Eagles and Jackson a pretty good idea of what his market value is.

And his signing the tag should jump start negotiations. Once the tag is signed, the Eagles can't take it off him.