The Los Angeles Rams waived veteran wide receiver on Tuesday after the team could not move him before the NFL's trade deadline.
Jackson posted a photo illustration of himself in a Raiders uniform to his Instagram account on Sunday, not long after long-time NFL reporter Josina Anderson said the three-time Pro Bowler told her he was joining Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, caught eight of 15 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown in seven games for the Rams.
"I understand that everything happens for a reason and I look forward to beginning the next chapter of my NFL career," Jackson said after his release by LA.
The Raiders immediately emerged as a likely destination when they cut ties with receiver Henry Ruggs III this week after he was charged by police following a fatal car crash.
Various injuries limited Jackson to eight total games over the previous two seasons in his second career stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.
All three of his Pro-Bowl selections came in his first spell with the Eagles, as he had at least 900 yards receiving in five of his first six seasons in the league.
Jackson posted a photo of a quotation attributed to Adolf Hitler on the social media platform on Monday.
The veteran receiver also posted quotations from Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who has made anti-Semitic comments in the past.
The NFL released its own statement, calling the posts "highly inappropriate, offensive and divisive."
After receiving some backlash over the posts, Jackson re-posted the photo with a new caption.
"Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way," Jackson wrote. "I have no hatred in my heart towards no one!! Equality equality."
Jackson made the posts to his Instagram story, which keeps the photo active for 24 hours. It has since expired.
"We have spoken with DeSean Jackson about his social media posts," the Eagles said in a statement on Tuesday. "Regardless of his intentions, the messages he shared were offensive, harmful and absolutely appalling.
"They have no place in our society and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organisation."
Neither the NFL nor the team has issued any kind of punishment to Jackson for the posts, but the Eagles said that they are still evaluating the situation and "will take appropriate action."
"We are disappointed, and we reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologising but also using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality and respect."
Just after the team released their statement, Jackson posted an apology video to his Instagram account.
"I never want to put any race down or put any people down. My post was definitely not intended for anybody of any race to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community," Jackson said. "What I posted – I definitely didn't mean it to the extent that you guys took it, and I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm very apologetic.
"I probably should have never posted anything that Hitler did, because Hitler was a bad person; I know that. I was just trying to uplift African Americans."
Joe Banner, the Eagles' team president from 1995-2012, has made numerous posts on Twitter condemning Jackson's message and debating with those who are defending Jackson.
In one tweet, Banner called Jackson's post "absolutely indefensible" and said it would be "totally appropriate" for the team to consider cutting Jackson.
"Either hate is wrong no matter who it's directed at or it isn't," Banner said in another tweet. "Quoting Farrakhan and Hitler is not a good start.
"Hate needs to be wrong no matter who it is directed at, especially when based on lies."
Jackson played his first six NFL seasons with the Eagles before stints with the Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He re-joined the Eagles last season but was limited to just three games due to a core muscle injury that required surgery.
After the Raiders snatched a 36-33 overtime win, Carr could reflect on a policy skilfully enacted, and interim head coach Rich Bisaccia was suitably impressed.
Carr ended the game with 24-of-39 passing for 373 yards and a touchdown – the most yards by a Raiders quarterback on Thanksgiving in team history.
It gave him a passer rating of 101.8 after three consecutive games down in double digits, each of which ended in defeat.
Daniel Carlson nailed a field goal to win the game before munching on a turkey leg to mark the holiday. Victory improved the Raiders to 6-5 and checked the Cowboys at 7-4.
Carr picked out DeSean Jackson early for a 56-yard touchdown; Jackson's 34th career touchdown of 50-plus yards puts him only two adrift of all-time NFL leader Jerry Rice.
Speaking after the game, Carr said he heeded the advice of former Raiders coach Jon Gruden not to shy away from the bold option.
"It leads sometimes to not completing as many balls on a percentage chart, but to me, Gruden used to tell me, 'Don't ever take your arm out of a game'," Carr said.
"So, when we call these things, let's rip 'em."
Gruden resigned from his Raiders top job in October amid reports he had sent emails containing offensive language.
Carr savoured the narrow victory, saying: "Our back was against the wall. There's no doubt about that. And in the way that we fought today and for as long as it took to win... we had to do that today, and I'm very proud of our team."
Bisaccia said 30-year-old Carr had been "off sync a little bit" in recent games. "Today he looked like Derek Carr. It's fun to watch him play," the interim coach added.
Bisaccia also saluted 34-year-old Jackson, an acquisition in early November who is showing the Raiders what he still has left in the tank.
"I thought he stepped up in there today and made really incredible plays," Bisaccia said. "You can see DeSean hopefully getting more and more comfortable with what we're asking him to do. One thing he can still do is run. It was fun to watch him. It was good for him, and it was good for us."
It fell to Carlson to settle the game and settle a Raiders team who were 3-0 early in the season before losing their way.
A fourth successive loss would have hurt, but now Las Vegas can look forward with greater optimism. They are next in action against the Washington Football Team on December 5.
Carlson said: "It's tough when things don't go your way for a few weeks."
Quoted on the Raiders website, he added: "On a short week to be able to get a win like that, that helps us going forward. I think that just speaks to the character of this team and our will to win."
He may not be at the Super Bowl for the first time in four years, but Brady ensured he remained the focus in Miami with an uncaptioned black-and-white photo he uploaded to his social media accounts on Thursday.
Six-time Super Bowl champion Brady, who could be seen walking in the tunnel at the Patriots' stadium in the picture, is due to become a free agent this offseason and the 42-year-old has indicated he wants to carry on playing.
The possibility of him starting his 21st NFL season away from New England is therefore seemingly a realistic possibility.
"Oh, that means he's out the door," Los Angeles Rams cornerback Ramsey said when shown the tweet.
"He's out the door. He's definitely out the door. He's gone from New England. That's exactly what that means."
The Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts have been mooted as potential destinations for Brady.
Though when asked where he thought Brady could wind up, Ramsey added: "I don't know, the [Las Vegas] Raiders maybe."
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jackson interpreted the tweet in another way, believing Brady is about to hang up his cleats after 20 glorious years with New England.
"He's walking away. He's retiring," said Jackson, who, like Ramsey, was speaking at the EA SPORTS Bowl.
"I don't know, man, he's walking out the tunnel, man. He's leaving. I'm surprised you don't see a deuce sign!
"I don't know, he's playing with you, man. He's playing with you."
New York Jets Pro Bowler Jamal Adams had implored Brady to "please leave the AFC East!", yet Jarvis Landry, who plays in the AFC North for the Cleveland Browns, feels it would be strange to see the veteran in a different jersey.
"It's not right to take the Patriots out without Tom Brady there," Landry added.
"Like, does it even count anymore? You know what I mean?
"I'm kidding. But, you know, he's a true competitor.
"I'm sure whatever decision that he makes is going to be the right one for him and he's going to make it work."
Jackson apologised for a series of offensive posts made from his Instagram account over the weekend - including one with a quote falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler - with the Eagles calling their player's messages "offensive, harmful and absolutely appalling".
Three-time Pro Bowler Jackson said he had "unintentionally hurt the Jewish community" and vowed to "educate myself".
New England Patriots wide receiver Edelman, who is Jewish, has now addressed Jackson's comments and offered him a deal to learn more about his community.
"I know he said some ugly things but I do see an opportunity to have a conversation," Edelman said in a video posted on his social media channels.
"I'm proud of my Jewish heritage and for me it's not just about religion, it's about community and culture as well. I'm unusual because I didn't identify as Jewish until later in my life. Whenever I encountered hatred, it never really felt like it was aimed at me.
"It was only after I was part of this community that I learned how destructive hate is. Anti-Semitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred, it's rooted in ignorance and fear."
Edelman, a three-time Super Bowl champion, went on to say he was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse in 2011 - two years after he entered the NFL.
"There's no room for anti-Semitism in this world," he added.
"Even though we're talking about anti-Semitism, I don't want to distract from how important the Black Lives Matter movement is and how we need to stay behind it.
"I think the black and Jewish communities have a lot of similarities. One, an unfortunate similarity, is that they are both attacked by the ignorant and the hateful.
"It's really hard to see the challenges a community can face when you're not part of it so what we need to do is we need to listen, learn and act. We need to have those uncomfortable conversations if we're going to have real change.
"So, to that end, DeSean, let's do a deal. How about we go to [Washington] DC and I take you to the Holocaust Museum? And then you take me to the Museum of African American History and Culture? Afterwards, we grab some burgers and we have those uncomfortable conversations."
Jackson was allowed to seek trade options for himself, but the deadline passed without a deal being made, though the Rams waiving the three-time Pro Bowler still allows him to explore opportunities elsewhere.
The 34-year-old, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, caught eight of 15 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown in seven games for the 7-1 Rams.
"I'm not going to give it a grade. One came to mind, but that would probably be the headlines, right? Obviously it was an experiment that we attempted," said Rams general manager Les Snead on Tuesday.
"It didn't work out as well as we wanted it to, as DeSean wanted it to, as even [head coach] Sean [McVay] wanted it to, especially those two because they have a relationship that probably goes... deeper than football.
"Didn't work out for us and that is why we somewhat wanted to move in this direction and come up with a win-win in this situation."
Jackson added: "I am very grateful for the time that I spent playing for the LA Rams. Although this isn't the outcome that we wanted, I am extremely appreciative for the opportunity and support given to me by the Rams coaches and all of the fans.
"I understand that everything happens for a reason and I look forward to beginning the next chapter of my NFL career."
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers cut linebacker Jaylon Smith just weeks after signing him.
Smith – acquired by the Packers after leaving the Dallas Cowboys – only made two appearances for high-flying Green Bay, playing a total of 27 snaps.
