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Los Angeles Chargers News & Rumors

Philip Rivers Eyes Several More Seasons

January 26th, 2019 at 2:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers have not made much of an effort to target Philip Rivers‘ heir apparent yet. Because the plan still appears to be a semi-long-term future with their current starter. Extension talks between the Bolts and their 37-year-old quarterback are set to commence. Rivers confirmed no such discussions have unfolded yet, but going through his 15th season did not change his mindset to avoid retirement for a while. The 2004 first-round pick gave the “year-by-year” answer during a radio interview with San Diego’s XTRA 1360 (via Pro Football Talk) before adding he believes he has a “handful” of seasons left. In the final year of his latest contract, Rivers is due an $11MM base salary and $5MM roster bonus in 2019. A $23MM cap charge is attached to this deal, and another re-up would bring that down. Los Angeles is projected to hold middle-of-the-pack cap space ($25MM-plus).

Here is the latest from the West divisions, moving to one of the Bolts’ top rivals:

Chargers To Target Linebackers

January 18th, 2019 at 9:27pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg
  • The Chargers struggled to stop the run all season long and especially in their playoff loss to the Patriots, and Chargers GM Tom Telesco said at his end of year press conference that linebacker will be a priority for them this offseason, according to Sam Fortier of The Athletic. The Chargers suffered a rash of injuries to their linebacking corp this season, with starters Kyzir White, Denzel Perryman, and Jatavis Brown all suffering serious injuries. The Chargers pick 28th in this April’s draft, and very well could target a linebacker with their first pick.

Chargers Open To Antonio Gates Return

January 18th, 2019 at 3:39pm CST by Zachary Links

Last year, the Chargers were ready to move on from Antonio Gates and turn the keys over to rising star Hunter Henry. However, when a torn ACL sidelined Henry, the Bolts reverted to Gates with a new deal in September. Will he come back for yet another season? 

“My heart says, yeah, he’ll be back next year,” Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco said, via Sam Fortier of The Athletic. “But you put your GM hat on, and you look at what’s the role, where are resources are with the cap. We’ll come to that conclusion a lot quicker than we did last year.”

It’s hard to see Gates demanding much in the way of salary given his decline in usage and performance. Last year, even without Henry in his way, Gates finished out with just 28 catches for 333 yards and two touchdowns. Those are respectable numbers for your average tight end, but they were some of the lowest totals of Gates’ career.

Last year, Gates carried a $2.5MM charge against the Chargers’ cap. A similar deal could probably be struck, though the Bolts may want to keep the guaranteed base salary to a minimum in order to preserve their flexibility in the first couple of waves of free agency.

For his part, Gates wants to return. He’s also confident in his abilities, despite his advanced age.

“The teams we played think I can still can play if they’re still doubling me,” Gates said.

Chargers Plan To Extend Philip Rivers

January 17th, 2019 at 9:04pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers plan to extend the contract of quarterback Philip Rivers, who is entering the final year of his deal, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com.

“I can tell you he’s not going anywhere, so he’s going to be here,” Los Angeles general manager Tom Telesco said. “We’ll talk at the right point, as far as the moves we need to make in the offseason, the resources we have and how it all fits in. But yeah, he’s not going anywhere.”

Rivers, 37, sounded amenable to an extension, as well. Coming off one of the best seasons of his career, Rivers is due an $11MM base salary and $5MM roster bonus in 2019, and has a cap charge of $23MM. His current pact, which he inked in 2015, contains an average annual vale of $20.812MM. That figure ranked fourth among quarterbacks at the time of signing, but now sits at just 14th among signal-callers.

Last year, Rivers started all 16 games for the 13th consecutive season, and posted 4,308 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. His adjusted net yards per attempt (7.79) was the third-highest average in the league and Rivers’ best mark since 2009, while he finished seventh in Total QBR.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/17/19

January 17th, 2019 at 8:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • DB Marcelis Branch

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/16/19

January 16th, 2019 at 6:58pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Chargers Waive K Nick Rose

January 15th, 2019 at 9:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers will be venturing into the offseason with one less kicker. Following the team’s divisional-round loss in New England, Nick Rose received his walking papers.

Los Angeles waived Rose days after signing him. Rose played in two games for the Bolts last season and was brought in last week for kickoff purposes. Only one of his three kickoffs against the Patriots reached the end zone.

The Bolts signed Canadian Football League import Ty Long to a reserve/futures deal on Monday.

Rose kicked in eight games for the 2017 Redskins, doing so as Dustin Hopkins‘ injury replacement, before landing with a Bolts team that had experienced rampant trouble at kicker. But with Michael Badgley having helped stabilize the position, the Chargers waived Rose.

Badgley kicked in 12 Chargers games, counting the playoffs, and may have the inside track on keeping the job going into the 2019 season. But only nine of his 60 kickoffs produced touchbacks this season, an NFL-low figure, so the former Miami Hurricane may not have an open-and-shut case to return just yet.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/14/19

January 14th, 2019 at 8:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s reserve/futures contract decisions:

Dallas Cowboys

Los Angeles Chargers

  • K/P Ty Long

New England Patriots

  • OL Ryker Mathews

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Gates Doesn't Want To Retire

January 13th, 2019 at 9:33pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg
  • Speaking of retirement, Antonio Gates isn’t ready to hang them up quite yet. Gates told reporters after the Chargers’ loss to the Patriots that he wanted to keep playing if the Chargers would take him back, per Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com. The all time leader in touchdown catches for tight ends was only brought back after Hunter Henry tore his ACL last May, so it’s unclear if the Chargers actually have any interest in retaining him for another year. The 38-year-old caught 28 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns this season. If he did play his final game today, he got a garbage time touchdown from Philip Rivers as a nice sendoff.

NFL Workout Updates: 1/13/19

January 13th, 2019 at 3:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s workout updates, all courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter):

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Pittsburgh Steelers

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