Los Angeles Chargers Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Chargers Claim Rasheed Bailey From Jags

August 18th, 2016 at 4:22pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers have claimed wide receiver Rasheed Bailey off waivers from the Jaguars, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. To make room for Bailey, San Diego has waived/injured fellow wideout Rico Richardson (Twitter links).

Jacksonville waived the 23-year-old Bailey on Tuesday after he originally hooked on with the organization last October. The 6-foot-1, 209-pounder went undrafted out of Delaware Valley a year ago and also spent time with the Eagles, though he didn’t garner any regular-season experience with either them or the Jaguars. Previously, Bailey racked up 10 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown with the Eagles last preseason.

Between his stints in Philadelphia and Jacksonville, Bailey was a member of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League for two weeks in October. That ended when the Jags signed him to their practice squad. He’ll now try to earn a spot with the Chargers, whose depth chart at wideout features Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin, James Jones and Dontrelle Inman, among others.

Richardson, meanwhile, is primed to look for work yet again, having already been a member of five organizations since going undrafted from Jackson State in 2013. The 25-year-old signed with the Chargers on Aug. 8, but an injury in practice kept him from attempting to make a mark with the club. Richardson has appeared in six games, all with the Titans from 2014-15, but he hasn’t recorded any stats.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chargers, Cardinals To Talk Trade?

August 16th, 2016 at 1:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Could the Cardinals and Chargers hammer out a trade? The Cards have some question marks at tackle and cornerback and GM Steve Keim says he isn’t inspired by the options currently available on the open market. At the same time, he says he’ll meet with Bolts GM Tom Telesco this week when the two teams have their joint practices, as Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com writes. He expects they’ll discuss their respective rosters and deficiencies, in hopes they can ask each other, “Hey, is there an area where we can help each other improve?’”

Chargers Sign Kamal Johnson, Zack Hodges, James Vaughter

August 15th, 2016 at 6:40pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers have signed defensive tackle Kamal Johnson, linebacker Zach Hodges, and linebacker James Vaughters, and waived waived cornerback Carrington Byndom.

Chargers Place Sean Lissemore On IR

August 15th, 2016 at 5:17pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers have lost a reserve defensive lineman for the season, as the club has placed veteran Sean Lissemore on injured reserve, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Receiver Stevie Johnson, whom previous reports had indicated was going to miss the year, was also placed on IR, per Caplan.

Lissemore, 28, has been with the Chargers for the past three seasons, appearing in 41 games and starting 13 during that span. IN 2015, Lissemore, who’s also spent time with the Cowboys, appeared in 11 contests and played on roughly a quarter of San Diego’s defensive snaps. The William and Mary alum wasn’t going to start during the upcoming season, especially given that the Chargers invested money and draft capital in Brandon Mebane and Joey Bosa, respectively, but he might have acted as depth along the club’s front.

Of course, there was no guarantee that Lissemore was going to make the squad, and the Bolts may have chosen to release him, clearing his non-guaranteed $1.75MM salary off the books. San Diego won’t have that option now, as Lissemore and his cap charge will spend the year on the Chargers’ salary cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chargers' Impasse With Joey Bosa Persists

August 13th, 2016 at 5:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Joey Bosa‘s relationship with the Chargers did not include much of a honeymoon, with the sides still at an impasse over offset language and the structure of the No. 3 overall pick’s signing bonus. While some have sided with Bosa given the Chargers’ 21st-century history in dealing with draft picks, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Bosa should be in camp by now. The Bolts make their preseason debut today.

The Chargers will play their second preseason game on Friday, and Bosa stands to miss at least that tilt as well at this juncture. We heard recently the relationship between Bosa and the Bolts could have endured “irreparable damage,” which is something the Chargers have experienced recently with Eric Weddle, but Acee points to several instances where rookies held out well into the preseason only to re-sign with the Chargers. LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers are among those, although both of the franchise icons’ delayed debuts came during an era where those were commonplace.

The Chargers’ latest pitch to voters regarding their downtown stadium measure is that fans of other teams will be paying for the $1.8 billion stadium/convention center project as opposed to Bolts backers. Their latest ad campaign states the stadium will be paid for by “Raiders, Broncos and Patriots fans,” as Brett Schrotenboer of USA Today points out. This is based around the stadium finance plan regarding the use of public money — which will be voted upon Nov. 8 — using a hotel tax hike. Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts voices over the piece, which is aimed at continuing to raise support for a ballot measure that, as of now, needs a two-thirds majority to pass this fall. Most experts deem that unlikely.

Joey Bosa‘s relationship with the Chargers did not include much of a honeymoon, with the sides still at an impasse over offset language and the structure of the No. 3 overall pick’s signing bonus. While some have sided with Bosa given the Chargers’ 21st-century history in dealing with draft picks, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Bosa should be in camp by now. The Bolts make their preseason debut today.

Using the negotiations between Antonio Gates and the Chargers in 2005 and ’10 — both of which involved meetings with then-GM A.J. Smith to close the deals — Acee argues the onus is now on Bosa to make a decision on the team’s offer, which has reportedly been unchanged since training camp began.

The Chargers will play their second preseason game on Friday, and Bosa stands to miss at least that tilt as well at this juncture. We heard recently the relationship between Bosa and the Bolts could have endured “irreparable damage,” which is something the Chargers have experienced recently with Eric Weddle, but Acee points to several instances where rookies held out well into the preseason only to re-sign with the Chargers. LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers are among those, although both of the franchise icons’ delayed debuts came during an era where those were commonplace.

Relationship Damaged Between Bosa, Bolts?

August 12th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Zachary Links

As the Chargers and Joey Bosa continue to slug it out, it appears that things are getting exceedingly ugly between the two sides. Now, Bosa feels that irreparable damage has been done to his relationship with the team, a source close to the player tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link).

The Chargers have not called Bosa’s camp back in nearly two weeks after his reps gave the team a proposal and Bosa feels personally disrespected by that. Furthermore, Bosa feels that public statements made by teammates such as Antonio Gates are part of a calculated effort to get the Ohio State product to report. Bosa finds those types of characterizations from some of his teammates to be “unfair” and not representative of the relationship he hopes to ultimately have with them.

When the two sides were at a stalemate in July, many assumed that the two sides would ultimately get a deal done after some wrangling. At this stage, it’s fair to wonder if Bosa’s contract impasse could drag into the regular season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chargers Won't Budge In Battle With Joey Bosa

August 11th, 2016 at 8:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Although Joey Bosa‘s camp has reportedly made the latest offer in his contract battle with the Chargers, Andrew Brandt of TheMMQB doesn’t expect the team to blink in the two sides’ stare down. Instead, given that the third overall pick has no leverage, the Bolts will wait him out. The deadline for the Chargers to trade the lone holdout from this year’s rookie class passed Tuesday, so the ex-Ohio State star will either have to sign with San Diego or skip this season and reenter the draft next spring. If Bosa doesn’t sign by the Tuesday after Week 10, he won’t be eligible to play this year. The 21-year-old and the Chargers are locked in a dispute over signing bonus distribution and offset language in a potential contract.

Chargers’ Stevie Johnson To Miss Season

August 10th, 2016 at 7:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

After undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Tuesday, Stevie Johnson learned he will miss the season due to the allotted recovery time, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The surgery was successful, per Rapoport (via Twitter), but the Chargers will lose a key weapon regardless.

San Diego’s top slot receiver, Johnson injured his right knee on July 31 but will now face a much longer timeline to return to the field. The 30-year-old target was set to play the second season of a three-year, $10.5MM deal he signed in 2015.

The Chargers signed James Jones last week to help compensate for the loss of Johnson, who started eight games for the Bolts last season. However, Johnson only played in 10 contests for the Chargers in ’15, missing extensive time due to a groin injury.

The former Bills and 49ers pass-catcher enjoyed a productive start to the season, hauling in 45 receptions for 497 yards and three touchdowns in his abbreviated slate. Those numbers topped his work in 13 contests with the 49ers in 2014. Johnson was set to join Keenan Allen and Travis Benjamin among San Diego’s starters.

The 6-foot-2 Johnson is on the Chargers’ books for $4.5MM next season but could be jettisoned on a $1MM dead-money charge and save the Chargers $3.5MM.

Johnson recorded three straight 1,000-plus-yard seasons from 2010-12 but hasn’t been able to recapture that form, partially due to injuries. He missed at least three games from 2013-15 and was among several key Chargers offensive talents to go down last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ball In Chargers' Court In Joey Bosa Impasse

August 10th, 2016 at 6:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Joey Bosa‘s camp made the last offer in the edge defender’s impasse with the Chargers, putting the ball in San Diego’s court, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tweets. The sides are still believed to be haggling over offset language and the structure of Bosa’s signing bonus.

Chargers’ Deadline To Trade Joey Bosa Passes

August 9th, 2016 at 6:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

As first explained by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk last week, the Chargers had until 30 days prior to the start of the regular season to trade No. 3 overall pick Joey Bosa. That date has come and gone, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, and Bosa still remains the property of San Diego. The Chargers, Schefter adds, “never considered” dealing away the rights to Bosa.

The contract stalemate between San Diego and Bosa is centered around offset language and payout structure, as Bosa and his camp want the entirety of his ~$17MM signing bonus to be paid in 2016. San Diego, meanwhile, prefers to pay a “significant portion” of the bonus next March. The Chargers’ offer to Bosa is reportedly similar in nature to the deal agreed to between the Cowboys and fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott will receive roughly 61% of his signing bonus during this calendar year, so using the same structure, San Diego wants to delay the payout of about $6.6MM of Bosa’s signing bonus until next March.

It’s important to keep Bosa’s family in mind, as Alex Marvez of The Sporting News pointed out yesterday, since the defensive end comes from a wealthy household and doesn’t have any pressure to immediately collect on an NFL contract. In theory, Bosa could survive a year-long holdout in order to re-enter the draft pool next year. Of course, after a year away from football, it’s unlikely that he would go No. 3 or higher in the 2017 draft. Bosa will be ineligible to play this season if he doesn’t sign by the Tuesday after Week 10.

Meanwhile, Bosa’s mother took to Facebook over the weekend with some interesting comments. “It bums me out for him so much,” she wrote. “Wish we pulled an Eli Manning on draft day.” Manning, of course, forced his way out of San Diego after being selected with the top pick in the 2004 draft.

Photo courtesy of Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.

Los Angeles Chargers News & Rumors