What Two Pending FAs do the Chargers Absolutely Have to Sign?

by Stephen (shaynes41) on Jul 17, 2009 7:00 AM PDT

With the wealth of young talent the Chargers have on their roster, a lot of people like to talk about who might be leaving and who the Charger definitely can't let go. I thought it would be an interesting discussion to look at all the guys who are going to be free agents by the end of the 2010-11 season and then determine who the Chargers absolutely have to re-sign. For the purposes of this discussion, let's raise the stakes by saying we have to choose two players to keep and assume all the rest will leave. It probably won't shake out like that in real life, but it will bring some clarity to the discussion if it is that black and white of a decision. Also, for the sake of this discussion, let's ignore the complications that the CBA and the future labor problems might bring.

First of all, here are our high profile free agents over the next few years:

Some things to think about: Do we load up with stars on one side of the ball? Building an Air Coryell Style offense and living with an Air Coryell style defense? Do you subscribe to AJ's belief that a defense needs to be a dictating pressure defense? And can we do this without Merriman?

So what do you think? Nothing fancy allowed, going into the 2011 season you get two of the above eight players, the other six are all gone. I've got an initial poll below with some of the more likely combos, if your preferred combo isn't there, note it in the comments and I'll circle back around and add it in to the poll.

Also, I want to hear why you think those two players are the most important to re-sign.

Poll

What two pending FAs are the most critical for the Chargers to re-sign

Rivers and Merriman

1192 votes

Rivers and Jackson

66 votes

Rivers and McNeill

189 votes

Rivers and Cromartie

46 votes

Rivers and Gates

247 votes

Rivers and Sproles

23 votes

Merriman and McNeill

8 votes

Merriman and Cromartie

16 votes

McNeill and Cromartie

5 votes

Merriman and Cooper

5 votes

1797 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

If money is not a problem

Rivers and Merriman but I think signing Merriman will kill the teams payroll and just put to many team recourses in one basket. In the end I think the team will get a deal done with Rivers and McNeil and franchise tag Merriman.

by Grey Suit on Jul 17, 2009 7:21 AM PDT reply actions

get a deal done with Rivers and McNeil and franchise tag Merriman

This sounds about right to me. Last season proved that the Chargers can win without Merriman, but they had a tough time early on when McNeil and Hardwick were hurt. Merriman is a big deal, but I think McNeil might be an even larger contribution to the team’s success — OL just doesn’t get the same press as a spastic sack dance.

by Leukadian on Jul 17, 2009 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions

if money isn't a problem

merriman and rivers
otherwise (in the real world) I’d pick Gates and Rivers out of these eight guys.

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by LAZBOYxBE on Jul 17, 2009 7:43 AM PDT reply actions

17 and 56

I pretty sure last season res ipsa loquitur

Fire Bud Black!

by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jul 17, 2009 8:16 AM PDT reply actions

I think the general consesus should be that Rivers is priority #1.

by JollyWaffle on Jul 17, 2009 8:46 AM PDT reply actions

and priorities

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 17, 20, 53 and 764

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by Wonko on Jul 17, 2009 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions

He’s the only guy they absolutely must re-sign.

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by Richard Wade on Jul 17, 2009 12:40 PM PDT up reply actions

Value wise...

Re-signing Merriman may end up costing so much that we would lose other players that are a better value. Plus, will he really return to his former glory post-surgery? There is a chance he may not. Focus on Rivers, he will be the kind of player that can make up for deficiencies in other areas of the team. I voted for Gates second because I think he is a future hall of famer right next to Kellen Winslow.

by Baxtar on Jul 17, 2009 10:36 AM PDT reply actions

Rivers, merriman, and cromartie?

Rivers is a given. There just aren’t too many good qb’s in the league. Merriman is big, but replaceable if need be. Cromartie is a question mark after last season. But, if he returns to 07 form, he would be a big loss to the secondary.

by irishlad on Jul 17, 2009 11:23 AM PDT reply actions

I'm not so sure they'll want to sign McNeill long-term.

After his rookie year in 2006, he hasn’t done well. OK, he was injured last year, but he was healthy in 2007 and didn’t play all that great. In fact, I’ve heard some stuff about the team wanting to look for a new left tackle and shift Marcus to the right side, because he’s just not playing like an elite LT.

A lot of it probably depends on how he performs this year. If he’s injured again, or is just mediocre when healthy, I think the Chargers will look to upgrade the spot.

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by Zach (maestro876) on Jul 17, 2009 12:13 PM PDT reply actions

Bingo

McNeill needs to absolutely kill this year for me to see him as our long-term answer at LOT. And perhaps that is one reason that we didn’t do much towards a ROT this year. I dunno.

My choice? PR & Merriman, with the caveat that Merriman comes back a lean, mean, ballin’ machine.

They are, undeniably, the leaders on both sides of the ball. Can we afford them both? We’ll have to wait & see.

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by Buck Melanoma on Jul 17, 2009 2:47 PM PDT up reply actions

rivers and mcneill are a must

We drafted English to replace Merriman, who will be way too expensive. We drafted Cason to replace Cromartie. Both were 1st rounders and intended to replace these players if necessary. Jamal is too old and will need to be replaced by the Canadian Martin. Rivers is a no brainer. After that the priorities are McNeill (protecting Rivers is imperative), Gates (HOF tight end) and Cooper (has become close to all pro). Jackson is also important to the mix and has become a quality #1, but his second DUI makes him suspect. We have several WR’s coming up who may be able to replace him. That’s how I see it.

by hankster on Jul 18, 2009 9:06 AM PDT reply actions

Rivers, Gates, Merriman

The Gates deal is less important, but will be easy to do. When the Kellen Winslow Jr. contract came out, Gates wasted no time saying he doesn’t need that kind of money if he gets to stay with the Chargers. Rivers is critical, I don’t think there’s any argument. He’ll get more or less whatever he wants: the only sticking point is where he fits in relation to Eli Manning.

I don’t think a team can reliably draft a replacement for Merriman. Re-signing him now would be a mistake, but after the season, if he shows he’s recovered from the injury, and if English hasn’t shown himself to be the second coming of Lights Out, they should step up and show him some cash. One thing that will make this easier is that he’ll have another year as an RFA, in a year with no cap no less, so if the Chargers think the cap will be back they will a) have the leverage of an extra year on the rookie contract, and b) have the space to offer a mondo bonus without any cap concerns at all.

McNeill shouldn’t get another contract: offer him a 2nd round RFA tender, and if anyone takes it use the 2010 1st-round pick to replace him. There are so many big-name QBs in next year’s draft that it’s highly likely a gem offensive tackle will fall well into the 20s.

by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jul 18, 2009 9:52 AM PDT reply actions

I just finished "The Blind Side"

by Michael Lewis (John, thanks for the review!) Great book for anyone who is a football fan, much more than just a biography of Michael Oher.

Anyways, it did get me thinking about what position was more important, the blind side rusher who pressures the passer or the LT who protects the passer from the blind side rusher. On one hand, a bad LT can be covered up to a small extent by giving help from a TE/HB or FB. This can cover for a weaker LT, but limits your creativity on offense. On the other hand a lack of rush makes a pretty good defense look terrible (see the bolts last year), but then again creativity can go a long ways to generating a pass rush (The Eagles had the #3 overall defense last year because of the defensive coordinator rather than due to a dominant rusher.)

I waiver back and forth. A solid scoring offense can cover a multitude of sins elsewhere (see last year and Fouts era chargers). But a solid defense can do the same (Ravens and Bucs SB teams, even the Steelers last year to some extent). If pressured, I think I would have to chose a solid offense over a solid defense. A solid offense gives you a puncher’s chance every week. But you REALLY have to have a good defense for it to win games for you. So, even though it goes against my nature to some extent, I think I’d have to go with Rivers and McNeill (assuming McNeill and Merriman both return to their pro bowl level of play)

by Stephen (shaynes41) on Jul 20, 2009 8:50 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Rivers, Merriman, maybe Cromartie, Gates

Rivers is a given. In response to Stephen, I must say I disagree that the dominant offense is more important than the dominant defense for ultimate success. I’m sick to death of my friends and family that are Steelers fans and their “we got 6, what’ve you got?” but they did it primarily with defense. The Air Coryell type offensive dominance can get you among the top few teams, and keep you there, but I gotta believe that the defensive dominance is what gets the Ring more times than not. That being said, This is obviously a huge year for Merriman and Cromartie. I don’t see either of them signed long term (at least not before Rivers) but stellar play could force AJ into some tough decisions. Cromartie is so talented its ridiculous, but he has alot to prove, especially with his off the field shenanigans (7 kids in 5 states?). If he’s focused and healthy, and the front 7 can do more than just wave at the QB, he can be the biggest defensive playmaker in The League. Not the best corner, but the best playmaker, and playmakers win games.

So glad I found this site!!! Keep up the good work!!!

by Hoot1969 on Jul 20, 2009 3:01 PM PDT reply actions