Los Angeles Chargers Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Coach Rumors: Giants, Jags, Titans, Marrone

January 14th, 2016 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

As the divisional round of the NFL postseason inches closer, the coaching carousel continues to spin for many of the clubs that have been eliminated from Super Bowl contention. Here are the latest coaching-related updates from around the NFL:

While there probably won’t be an official announcement until Friday at the earliest, sources expect the Giants to head into 2016 with Mike Sullivan at offensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo at defensive coordinator, and Joe Philbin coming aboard the assistant head coach and QBs coach, tweets Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
The Jaguars are interviewing Lou Anarumo, who finished 2015 as the Dolphins’ interim defensive coordinator, for their defensive coordinator opening, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union tweets. Jacksonville is taking its time identifying a replacement for Bob Babich, having interviewed Falcons secondary coach Marquand Manuel earlier this week.
Doug Marrone completed his interview for the Titans‘ head coaching position today, and Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (Twitter link) hears that the former Bills head coach made a good impression.
The Chargers have hired former Vikings offensive line coach Jeff Davidson for the same position in San Diego, the team announced today in a press release.
In addition to confirming their previously-reported hiring of linebackers coach Jim Herrmann, the Colts have announced that they’ve fired offensive line coach Hal Hunter, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com.

Chargers On Verge Of L.A. Move?

January 13th, 2016 at 5:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Even though they technically have one year to hash things out, the Chargers already appear poised to move to Los Angeles. The NFL has been presented with the framework of a stadium deal that would join the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood, Alex Flanagan of NFL Network tweets. The Chargers are vetting it now and, barring anything unforeseen, the Bolts will in fact go to L.A. Vincent Bonsignore of the Daily News (on Twitter) hears that the Chargers received this framework on Tuesday night, after the league’s vote.

On Tuesday night, the league voted to green light the Rams’ proposed move to a brand new site in Inglewood, California. The vote came with an interesting stipulation, however, The Chargers were granted until January 16, 2017 to join up with the Rams and make the move to Los Angeles. If they did not sign off on the move, then the league would have moved on to another team to be determined with the Raiders thought to have priority.

The decision stripped the Chargers of some leverage, but they did get some bargaining chips out of it. First, they were allotted $100MM to build a brand new stadium in San Diego, if they decided against L.A. Secondly, the Rams were barred from collecting on personal seat licenses or selling naming rights to their new stadium until until February 15, 2017, unless they bring a second team aboard before then. That gave the Rams extra incentive to get something done with the Chargers, and that appears to have happened tonight.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Which Teams Voted No On Rams’ Proposal?

January 13th, 2016 at 4:38pm CST by Zachary Links

On Tuesday night, 30 of the league’s owners voted in favor of the Rams‘ new project in Inglewood, California. Two owners, however, voted against the project. One might automatically think that the Chargers and Raiders were responsible for the two “no” votes, but other owners seem to think otherwise. Here’s more on that:

There was a great deal of speculation that Bengals owner Mike Brown was one of two owners to vote nay on sending the Rams to Los Angeles. On Wednesday, Brown released a statement through his team’s website to refute those claims. “Stan Kroenke has put together an exceptional plan. The league to a man is excited about this prospect,” Brown said. “It’s a huge market..It’s a market that has changed dramatically since the NFL was last there. There’s no reason the NFL shouldn’t be successful there. Especially if we go about it the right way. The Stan Kroenke Plan for Inglewood is as well thought out and as aggressive in every way as the NFL could possibly wish.”
Despite his claims, Mike Florio of PFT hears that other owners still believe that he cast a vote against the Rams move to L.A. During deliberations, Brown expressed caution about the project and explained that major revenues from the new stadium could jack up the league’s salary cap numbers. Brown is also generally against dramatic change, the source claimed.
On Tuesday night, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) asked Chargers owner Dean Spanos whether he voted against the Inglewood project. “I voted for myself. If that’s what you’re asking me, yeah,” Spanos said. There’s still some ambiguity in Spanos’ answer, but it seems that the Chargers cast one of the “no” votes for the Inglewood project. If the denial from Bengals owner Mike Brown is accurate, then it would appear that the Raiders and Mark Davis cast the other vote against the Rams’ new stadium.

Latest On Chargers, San Diego

January 13th, 2016 at 4:27pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest on the Bolts and the city of San Diego:

San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer says Tuesday night’s ruling from the NFL is an opportunity for a fresh start in the stadium talks with the Chargers, as Bernie Wilson of the AP tweets. The NFL has given the Chargers a one-year window to sign on with the Rams for an L.A. move. If they do not pull the trigger on a move, they will remain in San Diego with a $100MM grant from the league to help build a new stadium.
Faulconer says the Mission Valley proposal is still on the table but he will listen if the Chargers want to start over with another location (link).
Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts say they won’t budge off of their offer for $350MM in public money towards a stadium, however (link).
The Chargers believe that the framework presented to them to join the Rams in Los Angeles has workable components and would allow them to move in 2016, a source tells Jim Trotter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Chargers, their attorneys, and their financial people are reviewing the framework, but overall they feel there could be a deal to be made for 2016 (link). On Tuesday night, Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said it’s “unlikely” that the Chargers will play in L.A. in 2016.
If the Chargers are going to move this year, they need to decide before start of the league year on March 9th, Trotter tweets. Otherwise, the uncertainty over where the Chargers might play in 2016 could affect free agency.

Coach Rumors: Bengals, Titans, Philbin, Colts

January 13th, 2016 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Browns struck a deal today to bring Hue Jackson aboard as their new coach, leaving five teams with active head coaching searches. Additionally, plenty more clubs are looking to hire assistants to fill out their staffs, so we’ve got plenty of coaching-related notes and rumors to round up this afternoon. Let’s dive in….

According to Michael Silver of NFL Media (via Twitter), before Jackson agreed to join the Browns, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis approached his offensive coordinator with a last-ditch attempt to keep Jackson in Cincinnati. Silver notes that the proposal included a succession plan, which would mean Jackson eventually replacing Lewis as the Bengals’ coach, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from moving on.
The Titans‘ interview with Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin will take place on Friday, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the club will interview Doug Marrone one day earlier, on Thursday.
The Colts have reached out to former Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin to see if he’s interested in the team’s offensive line coach job, a source tells Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post.
Falcons secondary coach Marquand Manuel had a good meeting with Gus Bradley regarding the Jaguars‘ defensive coordinator opening, but Jacksonville has yet to make a decision on the position, tweets Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com.
Alex Marvez of FOX Sports has several updates on assistant jobs around the NFL. Here’s the breakdown:
- The Colts have agreed to a deal with former Giants linebackers coach Jim Herrmann for the same position in Indianapolis (Twitter link).
- Former Dolphins head coach and current 49ers assistant Tony Sparano is interviewing today for the Vikings‘ offensive line coach opening and is a strong candidate to get the job (Twitter links).
- Former Vikings offensive line coach Jeff Davidson is interviewing for the same role with the Chargers (Twitter link).
- Former Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle is expected to replace Vance Joseph as the Bengals‘ defensive backs coach (Twitter link).

NFL Owners Expect Chargers To Move To L.A.

January 13th, 2016 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

With the Rams set to move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, the Chargers now face a decision on whether or not to join them. The team will have just over two months to come up with a plan for 2016, but according to multiple reports, NFL owners expect Dean Spanos‘ franchise to ultimately make the move to Inglewood.

While Spanos will have to overcome the initial shock of losing out on the Carson project, the thinking among owners is that, once he has a chance to process the Inglewood opportunity, he’ll “pounce,” writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. According to Florio, the Chargers have already begun working directly with the league to finalize the parameters of an Inglewood deal.

That detail is important — as Florio notes, the NFL will be involved in the negotiations, if necessary. Stan Kroenke has reportedly promised the rest of the league’s owners that he’ll be reasonable and won’t play hardball when it comes to taking on a partner – or a tenant – and it sounds like the NFL will be keeping a close eye on the situation to make sure the talks go smoothly.

Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune also suggest it’s more likely that the Chargers will make the move to L.A. rather than staying in San Diego. Acee tweets that, at best, it’s 50/50 that the team will try to make a go of it in San Diego, and he acknowledges that even that estimate may be optimistic. “99 out of 100 would take this [Inglewood] deal,” one source tells Florio.

It’s still possible that Spanos will have the Chargers play at least one more year in San Diego in the hopes that the city can improve its stadium proposal by the end of 2016. But there are plenty of incentives for Kroenke and the Rams to try to secure a partner in Inglewood sooner rather than later.

As Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported earlier today, and as Florio confirms, the Rams can’t sell PSLs and stadium naming rights, among other things, until February 15, 2017, unless they bring a second team aboard before then. If they were to strike a deal with the Chargers, the Rams can begin selling those premium products right away.

Florio passes along a couple other items of note related to the L.A. situation, writing that owners were “blown away” by the Inglewood presentation in Houston, with one source suggesting that if the Inglewood proposal was like watching Star Wars, the Carson plan was like watching “a home movie from the ’70s.” Florio also reports that there’s a strong belief Bengals owner Mike Brown was one of two owners who voted against the Inglewood plan.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Los Angeles Leftovers: Raiders/Chargers Notes

January 13th, 2016 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we rounded up several updates on Los Angeles relocation from the perspective of the Rams and their Inglewood stadium project. Of course, while the Rams have some sense of resolution now, the other two teams involved in the situation – the Raiders and Chargers – remain in limbo.

The Chargers will have to regroup and decide whether they want to attempt to work out a deal with Stan Kroenke at the Rams that puts them in Los Angeles for 2016. As for the Raiders, the official statement from the team in the wake of the NFL’s big Tuesday decision didn’t even mention Oakland, and owner Mark Davis alluded to finding a home for the franchise. So while the Raiders may end up back in Oakland in 2016, the club’s long-term future in the Bay Area is far from secure.

Here are a few updates on the Raiders’ and Chargers’ situation as those franchises look ahead to their next steps:

If the Chargers end up deciding to move to Inglewood, the Raiders may zero in on San Diego, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter links). Bonsignore adds that there’s no chance the Raiders will try to move to St. Louis, and Jaguars owner Shad Khan told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) that his franchise won’t be heading to Missouri either.
According to Peter King of TheMMQB.com, there are some indications that Chargers owner Dean Spanos will try to strike a deal with Kroenke and the Rams within the next month or two, but that’s not his first preference. King adds that it’s a long shot to think that the Inglewood stadium will ever be a real option for Mark Davis and the Raiders.
Spanos, who will spend the next few weeks weighing his options, called the process “excruciating, for everyone,” per Bernie Wilson of The Associated Press. According to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), the Chargers brass was “floored” by Tuesday’s outcome.
Spanos’ options if he tries to strike a deal with Kroenke will likely come down to putting up $500MM+ for the new stadium to become a partner in the project, or going in as a tenant, says La Canfora (Twitter links). As the CBS scribe observes, coming aboard as a tenant on an affordable lease would be more within Spanos’ price range, but he wouldn’t share in the wealth as much in that scenario.
Per La Canfora (Twitter links), the Rams can’t sell PSLs and stadium naming rights, among other things, until February 15, 2017, unless they bring a second team aboard before then, so there’s incentive for Kroenke to get something done with Spanos and the Chargers.

Latest On Possible Relocation For Chargers, Rams

January 12th, 2016 at 9:21pm CST by Zachary Links

After much back-and-forth in Houston, NFL owners have voted to approve a plan that will put the Rams back in Los Angeles. However, it’s not immediately clear what this news means for the other two teams that were vying for L.A. relocation. The Chargers will have the option to join the Rams at their Inglewood site until through January 16th, 2017. If they do not sign up to share a stadium with the Rams by then, the Raiders will have first crack at stepping in as the second team in Inglewood. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is celebrating tonight, but this news isn’t necessarily good news for the Chargers or Raiders. The Bolts, in particular, don’t seem to have much leverage now to work with the Rams if they do decide to relocate.

“My goal from the start of this process was to create the options necessary to safeguard the future of the Chargers franchise while respecting the will of my fellow NFL owners. Today we achieved this goal with the compromise reached by NFL ownership,” Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a diplomatic statement. “The Chargers have been approved to relocate to Los Angeles, at the Inglewood location, at any time in the next year. In addition, the NFL has granted an additional $100MM in assistance in the event there is a potential solution that can be placed before voters in San Diego. I will be working over the next several weeks to explore the options that we have now created for ourselves to determine the best path forward for the Chargers.”

Here’s more on the Rams, Chargers, Raiders, and Los Angeles:

The Chargers have until the March 23rd – the conclusion of the NFL meetings – to decide whether they’re playing in the L.A. area or in San Diego for 2016, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Mark Davis said that this decision is “not a win” for the Raiders, as Judy Battista of NFL.com tweets. “We’ll see where Raider nation ends up,” Davis said.
Davis made zero commitment to playing in Oakland in 2016, as Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com tweets. Of course, since L.A. is now not in the cards for the Raiders, it’s hard to see them playing anywhere else this fall. Beyond the 2016 season, however, it remains to be seen where the Raiders could wind up. He also said the extra $100MM that will be granted to his team by the NFL if he stays put “won’t bridge the gap” in Oakland (link).

Rams To Move To Los Angeles, Chargers Could Join

January 12th, 2016 at 8:20pm CST by Zachary Links

8:20pm: Giants co-owner Steve Tisch says it’s “unlikely” that the Chargers will play in L.A. in 2016, as Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post tweets.

7:50pm: The Rams are officially moving to Los Angeles and the Chargers will have the first crack at joining them through January 16th, 2017, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Following that, the Raiders will have preference, sources say.

If either the Rams or Chargers remain in their current cities, then they will receive $100MM to build stadiums (link). Meanwhile, USC has signed off on two NFL teams sharing the L.A. Coliseum starting as soon as 2016, Jason La Canfora of NFL.com tweets.

7:02pm: The Raiders have agreed to exit their “exclusive partnership” with the Chargers, setting up a potential pairing of the Rams and Chargers in Los Angeles, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets.

If they leave San Diego, the Chargers could join the Rams immediately in Los Angeles for the 2016 season while playing at a temporary site. Alternatively, the Chargers could wait and play in San Diego until 2017 or later. Theoretically, the Chargers could treat their current home – Qualcomm Stadium – as their temporary site until the brand new facility is built in Inglewood. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be the likely stopgap for the Rams until their new stadium is erected.

6:46pm: The Rams are heading back to Los Angeles, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter). The only question now is whether the Chargers will join them now or join them later.

On Tuesday night in Houston, owners cast their votes on two proposals: one which would green light the Chargers/Raiders plan in Carson, Calif. and the other pairing the Rams and another team in Inglewood, Calif. That first round of votes did not yield the 24 votes needed for either proposal. Now, it appears that the Rams have gotten the green light to move to their planned stadium in Inglewood. The Chargers could still move to L.A., but they won’t be heading to their proposed site in Carson, it seems.

The Raiders will receive additional loan money earmarked for a future stadium in their home market when this becomes official, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) hears. Bonsignore (on Twitter) believes that the Raiders could now immediately turn their attention to San Diego given the strength of that market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/12/16

January 12th, 2016 at 7:48pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves:

The Jets signed wide receiver Chandler Worthy to a reserve/future deal, as Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets. Worthy was previously on Houston’s taxi squad.
The Packers worked out former Nebraska linebacker Jason Ankrah on Tuesday, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The Chargers have signed former CFL inside linebacker Dexter McCoil to a futures deal, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
The Broncos have signed tight end Manasseh Garner, punter Will Johnson, and tackle Darrion Weems to futures deals, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets.
Washington signed defensive linemen Corey Crawford and Kamal Johnson and linebacker Derrick Mathews to reserve/future contracts, as Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post writes.
The Panthers have signed guard David Yankey to a futures contract, as Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press tweets.
The Cardinals signed Quayshawn Nealy to the practice squad, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
The Patriots signed safety Cedric Thompson and wide receiver J.J. Worton to the practice squad and cut wide receiver DeAndre Carter, Wilson tweets.

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