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Michael Vick, Kevin Kolb headline list of potential cash and cap casualties - Brian McIntyre
Last March, the Chargers re-signed their starting nose tackle to a two-year, $6.6 million contract that was heavily back-loaded and will likely be terminated before the start of the new league year. Garay battled an ankle injury and lost his starting job to veteran Aubrayo Franklin. Garay appeared in just eight games and played 14 percent of the Chargers' defensive snaps in 2013. 2010 fifth-round pick Cam Thomas is expected to step up in 2013, which means the Chargers could part ways with the 33-year-old Garay, who has a $1.5 million roster bonus due on March 16. Releasing Garay would save the Chargers $5 million in cash and cap space.
Some thoughts on strength. - Annie Heilbrunn
I hear a lot that NFL players should just KNOW how to keep their bodies in the best shape possible because they are "elite players, at a professional level" … Yes. They are. But keep this in mind: These are the guys who were the top dogs in college. They were the business. Most of them just had this raw talent, and they were the best of their class growing up — the most athletic, the most versatile, the most productive. They didn’t "train" … they didn’t need to train. They were the kings.
Bolts Madness: Gates vs. Weddle - Ricky Henne
The Final Four has been set and now it's time to choose your first team to move on to the finals. First up is our number one seed, Antonio Gates record setting touchdown against the Jets, against our Cinderella story, the 12th seeded Eric Weddle pick six vs. the Broncos.
Get to Know Ken Whisenhunt - Ricky Henne
"I grew up in Augusta, Georgia," he said. "When you think of Augusta, you think of the Masters; the golf tournament they have there. One of the unique things that I had the ability to do as a kid was work the scoreboards at the tournament. It was a pretty big deal because it was an old fashioned scoreboard. It was a panel that you had to slide the numbers in like you do at Wrigley Field, so it was a unique experience."
At Super Bowl, LT picks apart Chargers - Michael Gehlken (paywall)
The former Chargers running back sat Tuesday afternoon in the Superdome for Media Day. But instead of being a player at a podium, where he might discuss his teammates, he was behind a table at a media brunch, picking apart the outlook of his ex-team, particularly as it relates to quarterback Philip Rivers and running back Ryan Mathews.
Signature Stats: First Downs Allowed - Linebackers - Khaled Elsayed
Sometimes it’s not just about the yards you give up, but the impact of those yards. Do they move the chains or don’t they? There’s a big difference between allowing a 9-yard completion on 3rd-and-10, or giving up a 3-yard completion on 4th-and-2. So looking into who’s giving up touchdowns and first downs is a real indicator of which linebackers really contribute in the passing game.
Signature Stats: First Downs Allowed - Safeties - Khaled Elsayed
While there’s a ringing endorsement coming up for some of the guys we felt should have been First team All-Pro, it was the Dolphins Chris Clemons who actually had the lowest percentage of plays into his coverage converted. His 0.96% was impressive and bodes well for his chances of getting paid in free agency. It was so good that Eric Weddle could finish only second, while the Steelers’ Ryan Clark proved how reliable he is with a score of 1.21% in third.