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Los Angeles Chargers News & Rumors

Chargers Cut Nick Novak

September 5th, 2015 at 1:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The preseason play of undrafted rookie Josh Lambo brought a changing of the guard in San Diego, with the Chargers deciding to part ways with veteran Nick Novak, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Michael Gehlken (on Twitter).

A Texas A&M product, Lambo will provide an edge on kickoffs in possessing a stronger leg than Novak, who is free to sign with any team in being a vested veteran.

Novak, 34, was the Bolts’ kicker the past four seasons. Prior to that, he bounced around the league, playing nonconsecutive stints from 2005-2010.

Novak made 22-of-26 field goals last year and is only two years removed from his best campaign, making 34-of-37 kicks in 2013. He hasn’t missed more than four kicks in a season since his first in San Diego.

 

Chargers Release Austin Pettis

September 4th, 2015 at 7:33pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers have released receiver Austin Pettis, reports Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).

Pettis, whom the Chargers signed to a futures-reserve contract in January, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Rams after they took him in the third round of the 2011 draft. He posted 107 catches and nine touchdowns in St. Louis, amassing career highs in receptions (38), yards (399) and scores (four) in 2013. He caught 12 passes in five games last year before the Rams released him in October.

AFC Notes: Pats, Iosefa, Levitre, Chargers

September 3rd, 2015 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Until the NFL’s slate of Week 4 preseason games gets underway tonight, there’s only one story dominating the headlines, and that’s Judge Richard Berman’s decision to vacate Tom Brady‘s four-game suspension today. We’ll have a few more reactions and notes on that decision coming up later this afternoon, in the wake of the NFL’s announcement that it will appeal the ruling.

In the meantime, let’s check in on a few more items from around the AFC, including an additional tidbit on Brady’s Patriots….

  • The Patriots are bringing in fullback Joey Iosefa for a visit and a workout today, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Iosefa is the rare draftee who didn’t survive his team’s first round of cuts this week — he was selected in the seventh round by the Buccaneers in May.
  • While there’s been some speculation that veteran Titans guard Andy Levitre is on the verge of losing his roster spot in Tennessee, it sounds like the team will keep him as a backup, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Levitre will earn a base salary of $6.5MM this season and will have a cap hit of $8.6MM. Those figures remain the same in 2016 and 2017, so he’ll be a release candidate going forward.
  • Rooke kicker Josh Lambo has shown he deserves to be on every general manager’s emergency short list, but Nick Novak is the clear choice for the Chargers‘ job as the team makes its cuts to 53 players, writes Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Rams/Chargers To Join Forces On L.A. Stadium?

September 2nd, 2015 at 6:22pm CST by Zachary Links

A pairing of the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood, Calif. is gaining momentum among NFL owners who fear that the Raiders don’t have the cash to make the move work, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. At this time, the Rams are on board with that plan but the Bolts are reluctant since there isn’t “a lot of trust” between the two teams at this time (link).

Long-term, Cole wonders aloud (link) if the Raiders’ financial situation could force Mark Davis to sell the team to someone with deeper pockets. He also hears that NFL owners and executives are kicking around the idea of moving the Jaguars to St. Louis to replace the Rams if they head west (link). Nothing is certain at this time, but it sounds like there could be a serious domino effect stemming from the NFL’s venture into the Los Angeles market.

Meanwhile, Floyd Kephart, the man trying to redevelop the Oakland Coliseum complex and finance construction of a new stadium for the Raiders, has been pitching his plan to the team for several months. As it turns out, that proposal didn’t jive with the team’s “terms and conditions” for deal and is a non-starter for the Raiders, Matthew Artz of the Bay Area News Group writes. In short, the Raiders made it clear to Kephart that they needed to control stadium revenues to help pay for the team’s $500MM contribution toward the stadium, including a $200MM stadium loan from the NFL. Kephart’s proposal, meanwhile, would have had the financial shortfall filled primarily through issuing bonds backed by future stadium revenue.

Chargers Reduce Roster To 75 Players

September 1st, 2015 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Chargers are the latest team to officially announce their cuts down to 75 players, and the team’s four Tuesday moves involve a handful of injured players. According to a press release, San Diego has waived/injured the following four players:

  • WR Torrence Allen
  • CB Chris Davis
  • S Gordon Hill
  • G Melvin Meggs

Each of those players will have to pass through waivers unclaimed in order to remain with the Chargers’ organization. Assuming they do, they’ll revert to San Diego’s injured reserve list.

Having trimmed their roster to 75 players, the Chargers will now have to make 22 more moves in order to get down to a 53-man roster by Saturday afternoon.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/31/15

August 31st, 2015 at 9:40pm CST by Zachary Links

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

  • The Bills announced that they have designated wide receiver Austin Willis as waived/injured.
  • Defensive end Camaron Beard will re-join the Jaguars, Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com tweets. Beard will take the roster spot made vacant by Monday’s Josh Scobee trade.
  • The Chargers cut Forrestal Hickman, according to a source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The offensive tackle, who is listed as 6’7″ and 320 lbs, signed on with the Bolts in June.
  • Toby Johnson has been released by the Titans, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online (on Twitter). The defensive tackle was signed by the Titans as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2015.
  • The Ravens placed Darryl Baldwin, Allen Reisner, Chris Greenwood, and Steven Means on IR, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).

Chargers Cut 11 Players

August 31st, 2015 at 8:38am CST by Luke Adams

The Chargers have reduced their roster from 90 players to 79, leaving the team with four more cuts to make before Tuesday’s 75-man deadline. Here’s the complete list of players dropped by the club so far, via a press release:

  • Manny Asprilla, CB
  • Cameron Botticelli, DL
  • Titus Davis, WR
  • Jahwan Edwards, RB
  • Curtis Grant, LB
  • Brock Hekking, LB (waived/injured)
  • Forrestal Hickman, T
  • David Paulson, TE
  • Chase Rettig, QB
  • Luther Robinson, DL
  • Logan Stokes, TE

Extra Points: Weddle, Chancellor, Brady

August 19th, 2015 at 10:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Adam Jones will probably go down as one of those “what-if” history stories in sports and the Bengals cornerback is well aware of that. “If I would have never gotten suspended, I would have $100 million right now,” Jones said, according to Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Still, Jones says that he tries not to live with regrets and that he hopes to make the most of the remainder of his career. Here’s more from around the NFL..

  • Eric Weddle‘s agent David Canter confirmed (via Twitter links) that he would like to see the Chargers safety land with the Dolphins. However, he made it clear that he and Weddle “have never and will never ask for a trade from San Diego.” Teams typically don’t trade their best players, Canter notes, and he says that Bolts fans can rest assured that he won’t be going anywhere, at least in 2015.
  • Agent Alvin Keels told ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter) that everything is status quo with his client, Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor. “Nothing has changed. He will not report without his contract being addressed this season. The team and I have been in contact, but we haven’t been able to agree on any compromise,” Keels said.
  • Right now, there are no more settlement talks planned between the NFL and NFLPA until the August 31st court appearance, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Brandon Meriweather‘s deal with the Giants is a one-year pact worth $870K and no guaranteed cash, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
  • During practice Sunday, Raiders‘ WR Andre Holmes fractured his hand and now is expected to be out 3-4 weeks, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
  • New Jets quarterback Matt Flynn says that there’s no timetable on when he’ll recover from his hamstring issue and added that he is not guaranteed a roster spot with Gang Green, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Guard-center Josh Samuda, former Dolphin and Viking, worked out today for the Chiefs, according to a source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/19/15

August 19th, 2015 at 9:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday minor NFL signings, cuts, and other moves from around the NFL:

  • When word broke earlier today that the Texans had signed safety Quintin Demps and defensive lineman Fili Moala, I noted that two corresponding roster moves would be required. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle has the details on those moves, reporting (via Twitter) that the team has waived defensive end Jasper Coleman and waived/injured tight end Mike McFarland. McFarland will land on the Texans’ injured reserve list if he clears waivers.
  • After releasing him earlier this week, the Saints have re-signed veteran tight end Alex Smith, placing tight end Kevin Brock on injured reserve, writes Nick Underhill of The Advocate. Brock had to be carted off the field after going down with an injury during Tuesday’s practice.
  • Former Georgia wide receiver Michael Bennett – not to be confused with the Michael Bennetts who played on the defensive line at Texas A&M or Ohio State, respectively – signed a contract with the Bengals today, according to the team (Twitter link). Cincinnati cut tight end Jake Murphy to create roster space for the addition.
  • The Steelers have claimed linebacker L.J. Fort off waivers from the Patriots, waiving linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, a 2014 sixth-round pick, with an injury designation, the team announced today (via Twitter).
  • The Chargers have also claimed a former Patriot, nabbing tight end Logan Stokes off waivers, according to a team release. Tight end Eric Frohnapfel was cut to create a spot for Stokes.
  • Washington has reached an injury settlement with outside linebacker Trevardo Williams, who landed on the team’s IR with a hamstring strain, tweets Zac Boyer of the Washington Times. Williams is now a free agent, able to sign with any team.

West Notes: Raiders, CJ2K, Rivers, Rams

August 18th, 2015 at 5:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter) spoke directly with the Raiders to shoot down a trio of rumors. The Raiders say they will not move to St. Louis, they will not move to San Francisco’s Levi Stadium, and owner Mark Davis will not sell the team. Here’s more from the AFC and NFC West..

  • Chris Johnson has $400K of his $870K salary with the Cardinals guaranteed, Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic tweets. There are no other guarantees in the veteran running back’s deal. Unhappy with their choices behind Andre Ellington, the Cards inked Johnson to a deal on Monday.
  • Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said that he told both Johnson and Jermaine Gresham that they’re not “promised anything,” including a roster spot, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets.
  • All in all, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap thinks that the Philip Rivers deal is a very good contract for the Chargers. The Bolts, he says, avoided giving Rivers a monstrous signing bonus and they receive fairly favorable terms on the cash flows of the contract. Just days ago, Rivers and the Chargers shook hands on a four-year extension that is worth $84MM with $65MM guaranteed.
  • Rivers will now earn $32MM in 2015, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets. He adds that $5.5MM of Rivers’ $22.5MM signing bonus is deferred until March 15th, 2016.
  • The Missouri Development Finance Board approved $15MM in tax credits this year for the proposed riverfront football stadium in St. Louis for the Rams, as David Hunn and Alex Stuckey of the Post-Dispatch write. Still, board Chairwoman Marie Carmichael said the money won’t be sent to new stadium planners until the board is assured the credits are a good deal for the state.
  • Carmen Policy says the Raiders and Chargers have agreed to shift divisions, if necessary, to make the Los Angeles project acceptable to the league, Michael R. Blood of the Associated Press writes.
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