Posted by Andy Benoit

The were some very honest – and revealing – thoughts coming out of San Diego (specifically the secondary). In short, some Charger players were not at all displeased to see cornerback Antonio Cromartie get shipped out over the offseason. Safety Eric Weddle shared talked about his former teammate with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Tribune:

“You don’t have the animosity between players, between player and coach,” Weddle said. “We come out each day and we’re working hard, we’re competing and we all want to get better, and we’re all listening to our coach. There is no second-guessing. Coach says something, it applies to everyone. We’re all at the same level. We’re all holding each other to the same level.”

There may have been more than one culprit over the years, but there is no question who is running through the scenes in Weddle’s head as he says this.

Antonio Cromartie.

“Me and Cro had conflicts,” Weddle said. “That’s just the way it is.”

Weddle made it clear that he isn’t interested in creating a rivalry with his ex-teammate. He’s not out to censure the guy. He’s simply stating some opinions that, frankly, probably surprises few people.

“It’s refreshing,” Weddle said. “I can’t tell you how nice it is to come to work every day and not have that in the room and just knowing everyone is on the same page, everyone is behind each other.”

Weddle isn’t the only one who thought there was a problem. More from Acee:

Cornerback Quentin Jammer is the go-to Charger for no nonsense.

He considers Cromartie like a younger brother, attempting over the years to help him at Chargers Park and away from it. Jammer’s theory is that Cromartie “lashed out” to attempt to force a trade.

But Cromartie’s closest friend on the team also cannot lament his departure.

“We all know there were guys in the locker room who didn't like him,” Jammer said. “He didn't like them. We don't have to deal with that now."

It was Jammer trying to play peacemaker between Cromartie and coaches, Cromartie and other players.

“It’s easier for me now,” Jammer said. “... I tried my best to put out fires, tried to keep the room intact, but it was too much.”

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Posted by Andy Benoit

There could finally be some movement on the Vincent Jackson front. According to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports , the Seattle Seahawks have been given permission to discuss contract terms with the star receiver. This suggests that a trade could be on the horizon.

The Seahawks say they have talked to Chargers general manager A.J. Smith about trade compensation for Jackson. If Jackson gets his way, a new contract would likely be in the neighborhood of $9 million per season. Jackson would instantly become the No. 1 receiver in Seattle, relegating T.J. Houshmandzadeh to a more-fitting underneath role and allowing second-round rookie Golden Tate to assume the slot duties.

The Dolphins’ acquisition of Brandon Marshall from Denver will likely set the bar here. Miami gave up two second-round picks for Marshall (one in 2010, another in 2011).

Jackson’s holdout stems from his displeasure with being tendered as a restricted free agent. Jackson refused to sign the one-year tender of $3.268 million by June 15. The Chargers reduced the one-year tender to $583,000, which only widened the gap between the player and team.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

We got into this a little bit toward the end of today’s Around the League video segment (with temporary replacement Michele Hunter masterly filling in for Lauren Shehadi): Chargers LB Shawne Merriman is battling one of his old injuries – a sore Achilles tendon.

You might remember a few days ago when Will discussed Merriman ending his two-week holdout and how he admitted it had been a pointless venture. He hadn’t received a new contract, he signed his original free agent tender, and all that happened was that he missed time with his teammates in training camp.
Love the guy’s honesty.

But the old injury flared up Thursday night and could cause him to miss Saturday’s preseason game, as the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

From the story:

“It’s tough, working my way back into it,” said Merriman, who said he was not shocked there was a setback. “I knew coming in that it’s a lot of work and we’d have to take it one day at a time.”

His Achilles’ has troubled him “on and off for years.” Merriman said it gets extremely sore and swollen and rest is the only solution.”

Read that part again: “rest is the only solution.”

Well, because Merriman showed up to training camp two weeks late, he can’t afford to rest it too much. Perhaps if he had shown up on time, he could have rested it periodically throughout training camp without falling too far behind. Because he would have been on time. But he wasn’t on time. And he’s not any richer for it.

So, he’s in a bit of a bad spot. Especially if he’s still pining for a long-term deal. Or a pain-free season.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill met with GM A.J. Smith Wednesday. McNeill requested the meeting, but according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune, little progress was made.

Wide receive Brandon Jones signed a five-year, $16.5 million contract with the 49ers last offseason but was released Wednesday. Jones hurt his shoulder in ’09 and fell to the bottom of the depth chart. Speculation is the current coaching staff was never taken with Jones.


Cowboys left guard Kyle Kosier sprained his knee Wednesday and will miss 4-6 weeks. Journeyman Montrae Holland will fill in. Kosier is Dallas’s prime source of mobility inside.

Chargers rookie nose tackle Cam Thomas is impressing some people early on. He seems to have good perspective, too.

The Jets are trying to trade third-string quarterback Kellen Clemens.

Finally! Some good news for the Ravens and their cornerback situation. Fabian Washington, back from last year’s ACL injury, will play against the Redskins Saturday.

With Brent Grimes having a groin injury, the Falcons cornerback competition could be opening up.

Redskins rookie left tackle and No. 4 overall pick, Trent Williams, faces a reckless driving charge from an incident in June.


In either a marketing ploy or a sadly confused effort to beat the summer heat, the Arizona Cardinals will wear black jerseys in their next preseason home game (vs. Redskins). (Perhaps with Kurt Warner retired, the Cardinals are already mourning their 2010 season.)

We knew the Browns were extremely high on strong, athletic outside linebacker Marcus Benard, but is the 2009 undrafted free agent really in line for a starting job?

Maybe the NFL is right when it says fans can’t stand preseason games. Looks like a game featuring two marquee teams, the Chargers and Cowboys, could be blacked out.

Because it’s late in training camp for most teams, there’s probably four or five worthless stories out there about coaches cancelling practice and sending their players to the movies instead. To save you from the temptation of wasting two minutes of your life reading one of these stories, we won’t even provide a link.

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Posted by Will Brinson

A few weeks ago, we discussed a feature out of San Diego in which Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates addressed the departure of LaDainian Tomlinson.

Neither Gates nor Rivers bashed LdT by any means, but their comments, which indicated that Tomlinson was the rough equivalent of a dark cloud floating around the locker room, weren't exactly filled with effusive praise.

In an article from Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times from Saturday, Tomlinson responded to their quotes.

"I thought they were my guys," Tomlinson said. "People always say, and my family has said it to me, that you know who your real friends are when you're at your lowest point and you don't have a job or whatever. And guys, they said what they felt, whether they were taking shots at me or really just saying what they felt needed to be said."

Tomlinson also addressed his leaving the Chargers, stating that he "started to see my departure out of San Diego way before" the media did ... although it was apparently only two years ago. (Which, you know, is when we ALL knew it.)

"Obviously, they had to start to build that team around Philip and get the guys they needed around him," he said. "I didn't fit that. That's why I kind of found myself on the outside looking in, and looking for work after this past season."

It's understandable that he'd be upset by the comments from Rivers and Gates -- even if it's their team (and it may have been before even this year), what they said is tough to hear regardless of how far removed Tomlinson is from San Diego.

That being said, though, Gates and Rivers were both honest and accurate and it's tough to fault them just for being candid. Just as it's tough to fault the Chargers for making a smart business decision and letting LT go, even if it was a year too late.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Shawne Merriman finally reported to Chargers training camp on Friday. After missing the first two weeks of practice, the linebacker signed his $3.269 million tender for this season, despite receiving no guarantee that he wouldn't be traded (he wanted one) or a long-term deal (he really wanted one).

And it appears he finally realized what most of us knew all along -- his holdout was essentially pointless.

"I didn't accomplish anything at all," Merriman said. "I always knew that I was wanted here, which was one of the biggest reasons for getting things sorted out. You hate to deal with the whole business part of it, but I'm so glad it's behind me and I can go out and play."

Of course, the "business part of it" is only behind him in the sense that he's being paid for this season. There are still tons of questions whether he can be a productive linebacker worthy of a long-term deal.

But that's why he's with the Chargers now: proving that he can perform on the field for a full season (and stay healthy) will go a long way towards getting him paid by someone over a longer duration once he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Sitting out the season would be as effective as getting injured or playing poorly, in that he'd only be costing himself an opportunity for a more lucrative deal.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Wide receiver Vincent Jackson and left tackle Marcus McNeill both plan to sit out the 2010 season. But, just in case they change their minds and decide to play the minimum six games (which would earn them an accredited season), Chargers GM A.J. Smith has flexed some muscle in that realm.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune writes:

League sources said Friday that Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill have received letters informing them of the Chargers' intentions to place them on the Roster Exempt List if they do not sign their tenders by Aug. 20.

A player on the Roster Exempt List is ineligible to play for three games following the day he signs. The Chargers used the tactic with tight end Antonio Gates to end his 2005 holdout.
This forces Jackson and McNeill to sign their RFA tenders three weeks earlier than Week 10 in order to make 2010 an accredited season.

Thus, the Chargers would have the players for three additional weeks of practice.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Shawne Merriman , the low man on the to-do list of Chargers' GM A.J. Smith, has signed his tender and will report to training camp.

That's according to the San Diego Union-Tribune 's Kevin Acee, who just tweeted that "Merriman just signed his tender."

There had been some dispute that Merriman would report following the linebacker's own tweet that contradicted multiple reports about his appearance at camp.

However, it would appear that the holdout has ended and Merriman eventually realized that in order to get a long-term deal, he has to prove that he's healthy enough to produce for a full season in the NFL.

Update: Merriman confirms the news himself, tweeting that he "Just signed my tender and glad to be back with my teammates thanks to everyone #chargers."

The Chargers had a replacement ready in the form of Larry English, their 2009 first-round draft pick, but clearly in an ideal championship-chasing world, they'd prefer to have Merriman in camp, ready to play and performing at the type of level that could earn him a monster deal in the offseason.

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