2012 Chargers Offseason: Free Agents
by Wonko on Feb 6, 2012 11:30 AM PST
in San Diego Chargers Offseason
Email
PrintWith yesterday's Super Bowl, the 2011 season is basically wrapped up. However, the 2012 season doesn't start until March 13. They call that the start of the new league year and it also represents the date when free agents are free to sign with any team. So, why start talking about free agents over a month before? Well, the teams can use this month to re-sign potential free agents or even players that will go into 2012 with only 1 year remaining on their contracts. There's also the potential for a franchise tag, which I discussed a few weeks ago.
The San Diego Chargers will go into this 2012 offseason with two former Pro Bowlers, a special teams captain and a player that scored 7 of the team's 41 touchdowns heading to free agency. Vincent Jackson, Nick Hardwick, Jacob Hester and Mike Tolbert head the list of Chargers looking for new contracts. Over the next few weeks we'll discuss the merits of keeping some of the players. The complete list is show below:
| Player | Position | FA Year | FA Type |
| Curtis Brinkley | RB | 2012 | R |
| Brandyn Dombrowski | T | 2012 | R |
| Kory Sperry | TE | 2012 | R |
| Stephen Cooper | ILB | 2012 | U |
| Patrick Crayton | WR | 2012 | U |
| Na'il Diggs | ILB | 2012 | U |
| Jared Gaither | OT | 2012 | U |
| Antonio Garay | DT | 2012 | U |
| Steve Gregory | S | 2012 | U |
| Nick Hardwick | C | 2012 | U |
| Tommie Harris | DT | 2012 | U |
| Jacob Hester | FB | 2012 | U |
| Vincent Jackson | WR | 2012 | U |
| Randy McMichael | TE | 2012 | U |
| Tony Moll | OG | 2012 | U |
| Scott Mruczkowski | C | 2012 | U |
| Paul Oliver | S | 2012 | U |
| Mike Tolbert | RB | 2012 | U |
| Key | ||
| FA Status | Abbreviation | Description |
| Exclusive Rights Free Agent | E | Player can only sign with previous club unless they are not tendered an offer. |
| Restricted Free Agent | R | Player can be tendered an offer by previous club. That tender will determine the amount of compensation (draft picks) required for another team to sign the player. For the 2011 offseason, these players are essentially treated like Exclusive Rights Free Agents. They are not able to sign with other teams and must either accept their tender or hold out |
| Unrestricted Free Agent | U | Player is free to sign with any other team without compensation to the previous club. The only exception occurs if the franchise tag is placed on the player. |
After the jump you can see when the rest of the Chargers' contracts expire.
The 2013 FA Year players are probably the most interesting of the remaining players on this list. Some of these players the Chargers will let walk and therefore need to think about drafting their replacements. Others might be guys who signed 2 year deals last offseason, but didn't meet expectations and could be cut early in the offseason and become free agents earlier than expected. I mentioned the merits of cutting or keeping some of these players in a recent article.
All contract data used was researched using Rotoworld.com.
20 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
If I have a wish list...
Jared Gaither OT, Antonio Garay DT, Nick Hardwick C, Mike Tolbert RB,
I might add Hester to that list. I know, no VJ. I simply believe that we can get more bang for the bucks VJ would want and I am also concerned about his YAC (yards after CONTRACT) and the YAC stats in general for other prima donna WR’s.
For the exclusive rights FA’s I’ll put Windt on that list of guys to bring back. Our Long Snaps looked OK last season. The 2013 list is looking a lot longer…
North Texas REALLY needs a Rubio's franchise.
Goodman
Has to be the fastest center ever.
In all seriousness I hope we can keep Hester, Garay (for the right price), Hardwick and Tolbert (for the right price.
My opinion
Keep:
Jared Gaither (OT), Steve Greggory (S) (Unless we can get a better safety in the draft/FA), Nick Hardwick ©, Tommie Harris (DT), Jacob Hester (FB), and Na’il Diggs (ILB).
I think that Cam Thomas looks like he is coming along, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him be put into the spotlight (hopefully he isn’t injury prone). I think Vincent will just be too expensive to be worth the money, and he can be the next Brees/Sproles/Turner who can be the guy that got away. I wouldn’t mind seeing Mruczkowski either, since I think he is a decent depth guy. Lastly, I think Tolbert is frivolous to keep, since Mathews looks to be coming on, and I don’t think he is really an improvement over Mathews in anything other than pass blocking and I suppose lack of the injury bug. I can see him having a decent career in something other than lightning bolts.
As for the ones I’d like to keep, I wouldn’t be heartbroken if Diggs or Greggory got let go, as long as we had someone viable to replace them (Mouton might replace Diggs, but who would replace Greggory?). Hardwick of course is one of our best linemen, and I would like to keep at least some continuity on that line. Harris and Gaither I think both played well enough that they should be given a chance to keep going in lightning bolts, though I don’t see Gaither being very receptive to moving to the right side considering how well that worked in Baltimore (maybe McNeil would move?) so I could see him leaving too. Hester I think does more than people give him credit for, so I hope he gets kept on.
Didn't we pick him up off the street
Like we did Na’il, Gaither, and Harris?
by Ferguson1015 on Feb 6, 2012 12:48 PM PST up reply actions
Those 3
Are all veteran enough players that they can’t be signed to reserve/future contracts. They signed 1 year deals that will expire on March 13.
"second base is the bizness." -jbox
Bolts from the Blue - San Diego Chargers Blog Created By The Fans, For The Fans
Okay
Same diff. He was on a one year contract that the Chargers took over when they claimed him on waivers. In any case, he’s a free agent.
"second base is the bizness." -jbox
Bolts from the Blue - San Diego Chargers Blog Created By The Fans, For The Fans
That might be right
They probably signed him to a reserve/future contract. Those are given to players who sign midseason and then are protected through the following year. I just learned about those recently.
"second base is the bizness." -jbox
Bolts from the Blue - San Diego Chargers Blog Created By The Fans, For The Fans
Yeah I am still trying to figure out how they heck they work
I dont know if the players going into their 3rd year are even eligible. I can’t figure out what the team gains from using them at all except in the 2nd year. It might have something to do with injury protection for the team when all the bodies are cut after camp. Either way Brown’s deal appears to be the bare minimum for a 4th year player, hopefully he changes something this offseason
Winning
FA to Keep
Keep Gaithers and VJ for sure….and Hardwick….everyone else can be replaced
Franchise
Tag Hester. FBs dont make that much, so it could save cap space for our big FA move!
by Lightning619 on Feb 6, 2012 6:46 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Gaither needs a deal
for sure. Tommie Harris I think should at least get a look, he actually played well enough last year to stick at the bottom of the roster perhaps. He is only 28. Dombo can come back on the RFA tag. I think either go OT or WR in the draft, so that should determine where the team goes with VJack. Unless a talented edge rusher drops of course
Winning
This. Not an option.
An autumn Sunday,
Perched in front of the big screen,
Beer in white knuckles.
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Feb 6, 2012 9:09 PM PST up reply actions
This is correct.
I wrote about in the article I linked to.
Jacob Hester
The organization loves Hester, both for his work on offense and on special teams. He also plays FB, which isn’t a position with many high paid players. However, according to Franchise Tag rules FBs get paid like RBs so that doesn’t help. No way it’s worth it to pay at least $8 million for what Hester does.
"second base is the bizness." -jbox
Bolts from the Blue - San Diego Chargers Blog Created By The Fans, For The Fans
??
Losing VJ would be bad. Floyd is great but if he can’t stay healthy and we lose VJ that would put us in a situation. Think about it unless they plan on going to get another big WR weapon. Hester has alot of value special teams with decent hands, Tolbert definately has value but I think we are going to lose him. Curtis Brinkley should get some touches this season then I guess.
BCoop
by Bleu on Feb 6, 2012 8:39 PM PST via Android app reply actions 1 recs
Tag
Should maybe tag Gaithers…VJ what stings about this is he was looking for like a 5yr deal with 25 mill guaranteed….if they tag him again…it means in the 2 years they tagged him…it cost them about close to the 25 mill…..way to save money on that one AJ. I am still not sold about Hester, I am probably a little bitter about how they traded up to get him? I still think the chargers can get a Solid FB elsewhere. Gaithers should be kept. He was solid for Balt for years and was a golden for the chargers. With McNeill’s injury history…Gaithers is a must…like I have mentioned before….backup for McNeill but if McNeill is healthy, I would go with Gaithers as RT than any of the current scrubs the Chargers have listed there.
Tommie Harris should be looked at.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bolts From The Blue
Related FanShots on Bolts From The Blue
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
BFTB Apparel Store
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- Former high-school star Brian Banks does serious time on trumped-up charge, now hopes for an NFL shot
- Former ‘idiot kicker’ Mike Vanderjagt in trouble after accosting junior-high heckler
- Adrian Peterson blows teammates away in footraces; appears to be on the mend
- UPDATE: Charlie Sheen didn’t buy Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl ring
- Alex Smith gets blown up by Jon Beason over Cam Newton comments
