"To the surprise of no one paying attention, the Chargers on Tuesday officially designated wide receiver Vincent Jackson as their franchise player.

The long-anticipated move was made by the team to ensure its most dangerous offensive weapon will be in the fold for another season. It also guarantees Jackson will make the average of the top five salaries at his position, expected to be between $10-12 million.

That is, if there is a franchise tag in 2011 and if there is a 2011 season.

The NFL Players Association contends the franchise tag is meaningless at this point, since there is no new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The league says since there is a CBA in effect until March 4, the franchise tag is valid.

Each team can designate one unrestricted free agent as its franchise player during a two-week window that began Feb. 10.

Jackson, who refused to play for $3.268 million in 2010, expected the franchise tag this offseason and plans to play under its terms in 2011 if the new CBA includes a franchise designation, according to someone familiar with his thinking.

Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith essentially made the decision to franchise Jackson in late December. While there remains almost no chance the sides agree on a long-term deal, the team does not want to lose Jackson now.

While tight end Antonio Gates makes more catches and is arguably the center of the offense and the Chargers possess a solid running back tandem in Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert, it is the 6-foot4, 240-pound Jackson's ability to make catch after catch downfield that scares opposing defenses.

His 2,888 yards led the Chargers in receiving yards from 2007-09, and his 17.8-yard average was tops in the NFL from 2008-09."