According to SDUT's Kevin Acee:

Merriman just signed his tender -- ka

Expect to see Shawne on the sidelines for Saturday's game, and maybe even at Chargers Park today to work on the sides and make his peace with his teammates.

I know this may not seem like a huge deal because we all knew it was coming, but it is. Merriman walks in and immediately replaces Larry English as the starter. If you're an optimist and think that Shawne still has the same power/burst that he used to and last year was a "recovery" year, he could potentially walk in and be one of the best pass-rushers in the league.

As I said before, this team is better with Marcus McNeill and Shawne Merriman on it. Merriman, even if he's not the player he once was, gets attention from opposing offenses and is (at worst) a decent pass-rusher. It can never hurt to have more of those guys around, and I happen to think that Shawne is a fantastic leader that will make the team even stronger as soon as he enters the locker room.