Los Angeles Chargers Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Chargers Sign Casey Hayward To Extension

March 11th, 2018 at 5:24pm CST by Ben Levine

Casey Hayward is sticking around Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter) that the Chargers have inked the cornerback to a three-year, $36MM extension. The deal includes $20MM in guaranteed money.

As Michael David Smith of ProFootballFocus.com points out, Hayward still had a year left on his contract, but the Chargers ultimately ripped up the old deal and locked their top cornerback up through 2020. Rapoport tweets that Hayward will earn $15.75MM in the first year of the contract. The Pro Bowler was set to account for a $5.1MM cap hit in 2018.

Following four seasons with the Packers, the 28-year-old has spent the past two years with the Chargers organization. After serving as a backup for most of his tenure in Green Bay, the former second-round pick has established himself as one of the top cornerbacks in the league during his time in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Since joining the organization, Hayward has earned a pair of Pro Bowl births and second-team All-Pro nods, and he’s collected 11 interceptions through two seasons. Pro Football Focus was particularly fond of Hayward’s performance in 2017, ranking him first among 120 eligible cornerbacks.

The Chargers seem relatively set at cornerback heading into next season. Besides Hayward, the team is also rostering Jason Verrett, Trevor Williams (ERFA), Michael Davis, Craig Mager, and Jeff Richards.

Antonio Cromartie Retires From NFL

March 5th, 2018 at 10:13am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Cromartie is calling it a career. The longtime NFL cornerback took to Instagram on Monday morning to announce his retirement from professional football.

“Today is the day I knew I would eventually have to face, but one I never wanted to accept,” Cromartie wrote. “After 27 years of playing football, today I say farewell. God blessed me with the opportunity to play in the NFL for 11 years, and after much consideration and prayer, I’d like to officially announce my retirement.”

Cromartie entered the league as a first-round pick of the Chargers in 2006. He put himself on the map in the following season when he tallied a league-high ten interceptions en route to his first Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro selections. Later, he went on to spent four seasons with the Jets (2010-2013) and one with the Cardinals (2014) before returning to Gang Green (2015) and finishing out with the Colts (2016).

We haven’t heard Cromartie’s name pop up since his four-game stint in Indianapolis came to a close in October 2016, but the cornerback was apparently hoping to resurrect his career up until today. As his 34th birthday approaches in April, Cromartie will now transition to the next phase of his life.

We here at PFR wish Cromartie, an 11-year NFL veteran, the best in retirement.

Salary Cap Rollover For All 32 NFL Teams

February 27th, 2018 at 12:17pm CST by Zachary Links

This week, the NFLPA updated its salary cap report to include the rollover amounts for all 32 teams in the NFL. The Browns, as expected, lead the league in $58.9MM in cap space rolled over from the previous season. Here is the full rundown of each team’s rollover amounts:

After the Browns, the 49ers ($56MM), Titans ($30.3MM), Jaguars ($27.8MM), and Jets ($17.3MM) boast the highest rollover amounts in the league. The Dolphins ($69K), Saints ($287K), Giants ($365K), Eagles ($514K), and the Seahawks ($547K) have the least amount of rollover. In total, teams carried over nearly $340MM from last season, good for an average of $10.6MM per club.

Chargers Eyeing Backup RB Help

February 25th, 2018 at 9:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers are seeking a complementary back to go with Melvin Gordon, Eric Williams of ESPN.com writes. But with Austin Ekeler working as a pass-catching back, Williams notes the team would want said supporting-caster to be more of a between-the-tackles bruiser who would spell Gordon.

NFL Awards Compensatory Picks To 15 Teams

February 23rd, 2018 at 3:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The NFL has awarded 15 compensatory draft picks to teams, as directed by the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The compensatory pick system provides additional picks to teams who lose more/better qualifying free agents in the previous year than gained.

This year, the 32 comp picks were dispersed to 15 different teams. Here is the complete rundown:

Round 3

No. 97 overall – Cardinals
No. 98 overall – Texans
No. 99 overall – Broncos
No. 100 overall – Bengals

Round 4

No. 133 overall – Packers
No. 134 overall – Cardinals
No. 135 overall – Giants
No. 136 overall – Patriots
No. 137 overall – Cowboys

Round 5

No. 170 overall – Bengals
No. 171 overall – Cowboys
No. 172 overall – Packers
No. 173 overall – Cowboys
No. 174 overall – Packers

Round 6

No. 207 overall – Packers
No. 208 overall – Cowboys
No. 209 overall – Chiefs
No. 210 overall – Raiders
No. 211 overall – Texans
No. 212 overall – Raiders
No. 213 overall – Vikings
No. 214 overall – Texans
No. 215 overall – Ravens
No. 216 overall – Raiders
No. 217 overall – Raiders
No. 218 overall – Vikings

Round 7

No. 251 overall – Chargers
No. 252 overall – Bengals
No. 253 overall – Bengals
No. 254 overall – Cardinals
No. 255 overall – Buccaneers
No. 256 overall – Falcons

The Bengals, Cowboys, Packers and Raiders lead the way in comp picks this year with four. The Cardinals and Texans each snagged three, the Vikings own two, and the Falcons, Ravens, Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Patriots, Giants, and Buccaneers each have one.

Chargers Will Let Nick Novak Test Free Agency

February 22nd, 2018 at 9:11pm CST by Dallas Robinson

While the Chargers are open to re-signing kicker Nick Novak, they intend to let him hit the free agent market first, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

As I wrote earlier this month when assessing Los Angeles’ top offseason needs, the Chargers desperately need to upgrade their special teams unit in 2018. LA ranked 31st in special teams DVOA a season ago, and was (by far) the worst kicking team in the league. Not only did the Chargers give up 22.2 points through their paltry field goal/extra point attempts, but the club’s first two losses of the season were direct results of poor kicking efforts.

Unfortunately for the Chargers, what looked to be a robust kicker market has already begun thinning this week. The Titans inked Ryan Succop to a five-year extension, the Colts agreed to a one-year deal with Adam Vinatieri, the Panthers are reportedly considering deploying the franchise tag on Graham Gano, and the Falcons have opened contract talks with Matt Bryant. Other kickers set to hit free agency include Sebastian Janikowski, Kai Forbath, Nick Folk, Blair Walsh, Chandler Catanzaro, and Dustin Hopkins.

Novak, for his part, has enjoyed two separate stints with the Chargers: he first kicked for the club from 20111-14 before reuniting for a nine-game stretch in 2017. One of four kickers to appear in a game for Los Angeles last season, Novak converted only 9-of-13 field goal attempts and also missed an extra point.

Opinion: Bolts Should Keep Travis Benjamin

February 20th, 2018 at 4:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Chargers wide receiver Travis Benjamin is scheduled to carry a $7MM cap charge this year and the Bolts could save $4.5MM by cutting him with just $2.5MM in dead money. That may be tempting for L.A., but Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com feels that he is worth the cost. Benjamin has scored nine touchdowns for the Chargers since coming on board in 2016 and his speed opens things up in the short/medium range for Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates, and Hunter Henry. Williams argues that Benjamin’s salary – which puts him No. 29 amongst WRs at the moment – is something the Bolts could live with. That’s reasonable, but it stands to reason that the Chargers could ask the veteran to accept a mild pay cut this offseason.

Colts Hire Nick Sirianni As OC

February 16th, 2018 at 1:39pm CST by Zachary Links

It’s official. The Colts have hired Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni as their new offensive coordinator, according to a team press release.

Before Josh McDaniels backed out of the Colts’ head coaching job, it appeared that the team would hire either former Seahawks play caller Darrell Bevell or Raiders quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz as OC. New head coach Frank Reich inherited several assistants from McDaniels’ would-be staff, but he had some say in this choice and the team landed on Sirianni as his right-hand man on offense.

Reich and Sirianni spent multiple seasons together in San Diego. Reich was the Bolts’ quarterbacks coach in 2013 before graduating to offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015. Sirianni was an offensive quality control coach in ’13 before advancing to QB coach when Reich was promoted.

Reich did not have the opportunity to call plays when he worked under Doug Pederson in Philadelphia, so it stands to reason that he will call the plays in Indianapolis. Still, this is a big step up for the 36-year-old Sirianni.

Chargers Finalize Staff

February 13th, 2018 at 5:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers have announced several new hires, including the addition of former Bills wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan in the same role. McGeoghan, who spent only one season in Buffalo, will replace Nick Sirianni, who is now the Colts’ offensive coordinator. He’ll get to work with a receiving corps that includes Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Travis Benjamin. Additionally, Los Angeles has hired Keith Burns (assistant special teams) and Addison Lynch (defensive quality control).

Colts Expected To Hire Nick Sirianni As OC?

February 12th, 2018 at 8:26pm CST by Micah Powell

After reports that the Colts were expected hire Chargers quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen for their vacant offensive coordinator role, ESPN’s Field Yates reports (Twitter link) that the team will in fact hire the Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni for the post.

The Colts requested permission to interview Sirianni on Sunday and moved fast to make him the team’s new offensive coordinator. Yates noted in a followup tweet that Sirianni is highly thought of with an extremely sharp mind and has the makings of a future NFL head coach.

The confusion is only par for the course for this Colts offseason. The team expected to hire Josh McDaniels as its new head coach following Super Bowl LII, but the Patriots offensive coordinator backed out at the last minute after several assistants had already signed contracts. The Colts then swooped in for Frank Reich, the Eagles offensive coordinator, and signed him to a deal on Sunday.

Sirianni received his first job in the NFL as an offensive quality control coach with the Chiefs in 2009. He served in that position until being named the team’s receivers coach in 2012. In 2010, he worked with the team’s quarterbacks and helped Matt Cassel earn his lone Pro Bowl selection. He became the Chargers quarterbacks coach in 2014 and transitioned to receivers coach in 2016.

Los Angeles Chargers News & Rumors