- A substantial amount of money being tied to players on IR contributed to the Chargers‘ decisions about their replacements and extension decisions, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. In losing players like Stevie Johnson, Keenan Allen, Jason Verrett and Danny Woodhead, the Bolts have a 17-man IR contingent and that represents $29.3MM of the team’s cap space. This helped influence what kind of experience the Chargers ($1.3MM in cap room) could target as replacements for these players since longer-tenured veterans naturally cost more. Additionally, this matter partially impacted extension talks for Melvin Ingram or Woodhead, Gehlken reports, adding the Joey Bosa cash-flow uncertainty affected these talks as well. Both are impending UFAs, with Ingram set to be an in-demand commodity if he reaches the market.
As signs continue to point to the Chargers moving to Los Angeles, San Diego is making an attempt to keep the only NFL team it’s housed.
Dean Spanos met with San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer on Wednesday as the sides attempt to exhaust all options to keep the team in the city after the Chargers’ Measure C — for a downtown stadium — fell well short of the threshold needed to secure public money. Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts appear to have put forth a compromise measure, however.
The local politicians have made an offer to the Chargers for a stadium near their current Mission Valley, Calif., site for $350MM in public money, Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. This is, of course, subject to a vote just as the downtown stadium initiative was in November. But with talk the Chargers will bolt for Los Angeles to share a stadium with the Rams continuing, this represents an effort from the city, one as Krasovic points out is $150MM higher in terms of public funding than Oakland’s recently offered for the last-ditch Raiders venture.
Aside from a meeting with Spanos this week, Faulconer met with another Chargers official and talks are expected to continue. The Bolts’ lease at Qualcomm Stadium runs through 2020, and the team turns a profit while playing there, per Krasovic. So, might they be willing to continue playing there while this plays out? Or would the resounding defeat at the ballot box induce Spanos to eschew this latest development and take the NFL’s relocation offer by January? Prospective contributions from the Chargers and the NFL for this latest stadium effort are not yet known.
The Chargers have until January 15 to decide on this current Los Angeles option — although, there could be an extension, especially with the Raiders connected to Las Vegas — and Spanos said no decision will be made until after the season. But just 43 percent of San Diegans voted for the current stadium, which centered around a hotel tax, when a two-thirds majority was required. Although the Chargers and the city would have more time to promote the next stadium proposal if it comes to that, there’s still a lot of ground to cover with voters who have come out on the other side of this issue.
Last week, Jim Trotter of ESPN.com reported it would “take a miracle” for the Chargers to stay in San Diego despite reports previously linking the team to continuing to play in San Diego in 2017. The Chargers and Rams continue to make progress on an agreement that would permit the Bolts to share the $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, so the Bolts are busy on multiple fronts as another season figures to end shy of playoff qualification.
- Antonio Gates is signed through the 2017 season but hasn’t decided whether or not he’ll come back for a 14th campaign. The 36-year-old tight end said the Chargers being a viable AFC West contender will determine that but does expect that to happen, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “My thing when I decide [whether to play another season] is, ‘Do we have a legitimate chance?’” Gates said. “I feel like we have a legitimate chance. I know the cliche. But I’m saying, legitimately, we should have a chance. Top to bottom, what we we’re going to be able to do, what we’re still able to do now even with the guys we’ve lost. I feel like in my heart we have a chance to win a Super Bowl next year. I feel like I deserve that. That’s what I want.” Currently 5-7 and en route to a second consecutive last-place West finish, San Diego’s lost numerous players to injuries for a second straight year, Gates missing multiple games earlier this season. Gates is in the decline phase of his career but has remained one of Philip Rivers‘ auxiliary targets, hauling in 34 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns.
- Brandon Marshall reinjured his left hamstring during the second half of the Broncos‘ win over the Jaguars, and Troy Renck of Denver7 notes growing signs are pointing to the team’s top non-rush linebacker missing Sunday’s game against the Titans. Recently signed to a four-year, $32MM extension, Marshall became the most notable investment in an inside linebacker in nearly a decade. He missed a game Denver lost earlier this season, against the Chargers in October. Former seventh-round pick Corey Nelson would be in line to start if Marshall sits.
Today’s practice squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Charles Gaines
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: S Justin Currie
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Stefan McClure
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: TE E.J. Bibbs
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OT Rob Crisp
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: CB Brandon Dixon
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: CB Randall Evans
The NFLPA has released the official data on team spending over the last four seasons. The Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that each team must utilize 89% of the salary cap over two four-year periods, 2013-16 and 2017-20. As previously reported, the Raiders are the only team that has yet to satisfy that requirement for the closing period. The CBA also requires the league, as a whole, to spend 95% of the cap, in cash, for the same period. That requirement has been easily met.
Here is the full rundown of every team’s spending in declining order:
Philadelphia Eagles – $613,928,134
Denver Broncos – $587,712,791
Seattle Seahawks – $584,305,975
Green Bay Packers – $583,138,740
Miami Dolphins – $577,975,260
Kansas City Chiefs – $575,541,332
Buffalo Bills – $573,647,850
Chicago Bears – $568,301,610
Cincinnati Bengals – $567,289,411
Baltimore Ravens – $562,425,698
San Diego Chargers – $562,232,116
Indianapolis Colts – $556,335,689
Atlanta Falcons – $550,614,572
New York Giants – $543,787,033
Arizona Cardinals – $543,327,538
Los Angeles Rams – $541,957,711
New Orleans Saints – $539,836,498
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $539,736,102
Minnesota Vikings – $539,162,454
New York Jets – $533,151,519
Washington Redskins – $532,545,662
Pittsburgh Steelers – $530,698,171
Detroit Lions – $530,210,549
Tennessee Titans – $524,505,256
Dallas Cowboys – $523,033,036
Houston Texans – $517,212,166
Jacksonville Jaguars – $516,908,734
Cleveland Browns – $516,158,864
San Francisco 49ers – $514,488,198
New England Patriots – $500,083,836
Carolina Panthers – $495,149,346
Oakland Raiders – $491,433,408
A combination of a love for San Diego, wanting to avoid a scenario where the Chargers are the Rams’ tenant in L.A., or possibly a future where the Bolts enter an uncertain period regarding who exactly their fanbase is may work in San Diego’s favor. But the city may need a miracle to keep the Chargers regardless of those factors since the stadium proposal was shot down so emphatically.
Another Chargers season is barreling toward a postseason exclusion brings relocation talk to the forefront for a second straight year. The 5-7 team may have just four games left in San Diego. However, Dean Spanos has delayed this Los Angeles commitment for a while, and the team’s chairman will continue to exhaust his options before making an official pledge to join Stan Kroenke and the Rams in Inglewood.
Spanos will meet with San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, other city officials, and business leaders this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Chargers’ city for the past 55 years, San Diego is viewed as being behind Los Angeles in this race, especially after voters resoundingly shot down their measure for a downtown stadium last month. Although Spanos has not made his decision yet, Rapoport reports (via Twitter) the city needs a strong proposal to keep the Chargers.
A combination of a love for San Diego, wanting to avoid a scenario where the Chargers are the Rams’ tenant in L.A., or possibly a future where the Bolts enter an uncertain period regarding who exactly their fanbase is may work in San Diego’s favor. But the city may need a miracle to keep the Chargers regardless of those factors since the stadium proposal was shot down so emphatically.
Although the Raiders and owner Mark Davis appear to be moving full-steam ahead with their plan to relocate to Las Vegas, not every NFL owner is on board, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (all links to Twitter). Multiple owners voiced various concerns with a potential move to Las Vegas at a recent league financial meeting, per Cole, who adds the NFL is now viewing the situation as a choice between two poor options.
At least two owners on the 15-man finance committee voiced concerns about the “logic” of transferring the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas, according to Cole, adding substance to recent reports that have indicated that Las Vegas’ small market size — not its reputation — is giving owners pause. League officials seem to agree, as they presented a study that showed Vegas would have the smallest “potential season ticket base” in the NFL, per Cole.
Another owner was skeptical of the relationship between Davis and financier Sheldon Adelson, and even argued that the Raiders should be wedged out of the NFL’s local revenue sharing agreement if they relocate to Vegas. Meanwhile, owners aren’t sold on Fortress Investment Group, which is set to contribute $600MM in private money towards a new stadium, and don’t believe the company is “trustworthy,” reports Cole.
On the Chargers, Cole corroborates Jim Trotter of ESPN.com’s recent report that the Bolts are likely to move to Los Angeles in the near future, although no “definitive statement” was made at the league’s meetings. The Chargers are progressing towards a deal with the Rams to share a stadium in Inglewood, California, but owner Dean Spanos “loves” San Diego, per Cole, and is presumably ready to exhaust every effort to stay put.
- Jerry Attaochu underwent surgery this week, and the Chargers made the customary move of placing the third-year pass-rusher on IR. Nose tackle Ryan Carrethers will take Attaochu’s roster spot, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (on Twitter). A former fifth-round Chargers pick in 2014, Carrethers already has 20 games of NFL experience — three starts — on which to draw after his latest promotion from the practice squad.
- Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram could ask for Ryan Kerrigan-money during free agency, according to Fitzgerald. The Redskins linebacker inked a five-year, $57.5MM extension with the team back in 2015.
[SOURCE LINK]
The Raiders remain on track to file for Las Vegas relocation in January, reports ESPN’s Jim Trotter. And, “barring a miracle,” the Chargers will likely declare their intention to move to Los Angeles at the same time (Twitter link). The Chargers have until Jan. 15 to decide whether to join the Rams in LA.
Both Raiders owner Mark Davis and the Chargers’ Dean Spanos will need 23 of their colleagues to OK their respective moves when they file for relocation. But Davis is in for a “battle royal,” according to Trotter, who adds that certain “old-guard owners” and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell are against the idea of putting a team in Las Vegas (Twitter links). Not only would doing so place a franchise in the gambling capital of the United States, but it would also mean trading the the Raiders’ Bay Area market for a smaller one. The Raiders currently play in the league’s sixth-biggest market, whereas Las Vegas is just the country’s 40th-largest market, as Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wrote in October.
As for Goodell, his wariness of Las Vegas has been known for a while, with a source telling CBS’ Sports Jason La Canfora in October, “Even if this came to a vote early next year, I wouldn’t at all discount Roger’s ability to garner 9-12 votes against [a move] if he believes firmly that Oakland is in the best interest of the league.”
The main reason the Raiders are exploring relocation is because the city of Oakland hasn’t made much progress toward building a new stadium to replace the 50-year-old Coliseum. That may have changed somewhat earlier this week, though, as Mayor Libby Schaaf outlined a financing plan for a potential facility. Schaaf is hoping a combination of $600MM in private money from former Raider Ronnie Lott and the Fortress Investment Group of New York, $300MM from Davis, $200MM in public money and $200MM from the league will entice the Raiders to stay, according to Phil Matler and Andy Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to kicking in $300MM – the same amount he’d put forth for a Las Vegas stadium – Davis would likely have to take on Lott and his group as minority owners. The league’s on board with that idea, per Matler and Ross, but it’s unclear what Davis’ feelings are. At the moment, the plan is for Schaaf & Co. to submit the outline to the league’s owners to demonstrate that they’re serious about keeping the Raiders in Oakland.
The Chargers have shown a desire to stay in San Diego, but they’re “out of ideas” for securing a new stadium and will essentially need a miracle over the next month and a half to avoid relocation, per Trotter (Twitter links). The Chargers and Rams are reportedly progressing toward an LA agreement, so it seems increasingly likely that the Bolts are in their final season in San Diego. While their lease at 49-year-old Qualcomm Stadium runs through 2020, it’s possible the Chargers will break it and spend the next two years either sharing the LA Coliseum with the Rams or playing at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., until the $2.6 billion facility in Inglewood opens in 2019.