Reports are coming in that the Chargers have signed rookie DT Cam Thomas to a 4-year, $1.98 million contract.  Thomas received the standard base salaries of $320,000, $405,000, $490,000 and $575,000 as well as a fourth-year escalator clause that can significantly boost the total value of the deal.

Thomas was selected by the Chargers in the fifth-round of the 2010 NFL Draft.  While many had projected him to be a 2nd-or-3rd-round talent, Thomas fell down the draft board and the Chargers selected him to bolster the run game, presumably to use him exclusively as a Nose Tackle.

Hopefully this will reduce the "Nose Tackle by Committee" approach the Chargers took in 2009 when Jamal Williams went down for the year.  Should Cam Thomas come into training camp this year and win the starting Nose Tackle job, this contract will be quite the bargain for the Chargers.

$500k a year (effectively) for a Jamal Williams replacement?  I'll take it.

SOURCE: National Football Post