Hallelujah, Clipboard Jesus has returned! The subject of many of John Gennaro's dreams has returned to San Diego after being rented to the Seattle Seahawks for two years. Now we've locked him up for two years ourselves.
In his two years in Seattle, Charlie played in nine games, and did ... okay. He compiled a 54.2 completion rate, throwing for 805 yards, 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. His biggest game came in the final game of the 2010 season when he led the Seahawks to a win over the St. Louis Rams, taking Seattle to the playoffs.
Now, I'll be honest, this moves confuses me a little bit. I know I'm not alone, but it just doesn't seem to make much sense right now. The Chargers have Billy Volek locked up for another season, so Whitehurst would presumably be the third-string QB on the Chargers. Even with Volek's contract expiring next year, and Charlie presumably the heir to the backup QB throne, the timing just doesn't seem to make much sense. The Chargers have carried just two QBs each of the last two seasons, and that's worked out okay for them. They could have easily picked up a decent backup QB next year.
I'm sure AJ Smith and the Chargers front office have plans for him, but on the surface, this isn't the most logical signing for the Chargers; I'm curious to see the contract numbers. This marks the team's eighth (8th!) free agent signing since Tuesday, and the fifth player from another team.
Update: It's been announced that Billy Volek has been released by the Chargers in what appears to be a cap space move. So that makes this signing make more sense.
Also, we have contract terms:
The deal is worth $4 million and includes a $1 million signing bonus, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
I'm just guessing here, but let's assume a $1 million base salary this year, puts his cap hit at $1.5 million this year, compared to Volek's $3.5 million cap hit.