Smith signs of times have Bolts good to '09

[joelbolt]

Smith signs of times have Bolts good to '09
As A.J. Smith observed this past weekend's minicamp, was perhaps as confident as he has ever been that the team he has engineered ... (Union-Tribune) More...

[Stone]

So...much...money...

This is one of those scary articles that make every fan say "We have to win the big one NOW." And it should be - the window for getting it done is very small, and you have to get through it when it is open because you'll never know what the future holds.

Well, I guess of all the problems our team could possibly have, this isn't a bad one: too much talent.

On the bright side, we didn't get into this situation by accident. AJ, Buddy & company have done an incredible job of scouting, drafting & signing free agents (McCree, Gates. . . ). They keep building the team's future with young guys who can contribute now as reserves & will grow into starters in a few years.

Phillips was "home-grown," as was Dielman & others. Now we've got Wilhelm & Cooper taking over for Godfrey & Edwards (hopefully they'll do well).

My point is that even though we'd all be disappointed to see ANY of our studs leave the family, we also recognize that it's a business, & that as long as we keep bringing in quality youngin's like we've been, we'll have new guys to step up when someone moves on. We've got almost our entire team locked in for the next few years, & after that, we'll sign who we can & have some young studs ready to replace whoever we can't re-sign.

Yeah, it'll mean some very difficult decisions, but I believe our run as one of the league's premiere teams will last more than just 3 years. That is, as long as we sign AJ, Buddy & their staff to a long term extension!

[3rd&Long]

Originally Posted by chargershark

Well, I guess of all the problems our team could possibly have, this isn't a bad one: too much talent.

On the bright side, we didn't get into this situation by accident. AJ, Buddy & company have done an incredible job of scouting, drafting & signing free agents (McCree, Gates. . . ). They keep building the team's future with young guys who can contribute now as reserves & will grow into starters in a few years.

Phillips was "home-grown," as was Dielman & others. Now we've got Wilhelm & Cooper taking over for Godfrey & Edwards (hopefully they'll do well).

My point is that even though we'd all be disappointed to see ANY of our studs leave the family, we also recognize that it's a business, & that as long as we keep bringing in quality youngin's like we've been, we'll have new guys to step up when someone moves on. We've got almost our entire team locked in for the next few years, & after that, we'll sign who we can & have some young studs ready to replace whoever we can't re-sign.

Yeah, it'll mean some very difficult decisions, but I believe our run as one of the league's premiere teams will last more than just 3 years. That is, as long as we sign AJ, Buddy & their staff to a long term extension!

Yes, we'll have to continue to develop talent after we start losing some of our current stars...but we'll have to do this without the benefit of high draft choices. I don't think the Giants will trade us Rivers, Merriman, Kaeding, and Oben for the 32nd pick in the draft.

Not that AJ and Co. haven't done a great job of finding gems in the mid to late rounds, but we'll have to gamble more to get the supreme talent.

Yeah, it's definitely a bigger challenge to get great players when you pick later in the draft. But we've already proven to be among the best in the league at that:

Olivea -- 5th round, if I recall.
Gates -- undrafted
Dielman -- former DT
VJ -- 2nd round pick
Big Mac -- 2nd round pick
Turner -- 5th round, if I recall

Plus, the youngin's we bring in won't be required to start for a year or two. That allows us to "groom" them for their starting roles.

My point is that, YES, it'll be a big challenge to develop young talent behind our starters so that our team can continue to dominate even after losing a few starters to free agency. BUT, if any team can do it, the Chargers certainly can!!!

Also, keep in mind that with so many of our guys signed thru 2010, 2011, & 2012, that will help us find ways to extend some of our key players with contracts that won't destroy our cap.

[SuperBowlBolts]

Originally Posted by chargershark

Yeah, it's definitely a bigger challenge to get great players when you pick later in the draft. But we've already proven to be among the best in the league at that:

Olivea -- 5th round, if I recall.
Gates -- undrafted
Dielman -- former DT
VJ -- 2nd round pick
Big Mac -- 2nd round pick
Turner -- 5th round, if I recall

Plus, the youngin's we bring in won't be required to start for a year or two. That allows us to "groom" them for their starting roles.

My point is that, YES, it'll be a big challenge to develop young talent behind our starters so that our team can continue to dominate even after losing a few starters to free agency. BUT, if any team can do it, the Chargers certainly can!!!

Also, keep in mind that with so many of our guys signed thru 2010, 2011, & 2012, that will help us find ways to extend some of our key players with contracts that won't destroy our cap.

2nd round picks shouldn't really be considered so much of "later ion the draft"
Olivea was actually a 7th round pick if Im correct. But see this article just shows what were doing with all the cap room we dont go out shelling on FAs year after year.

[ChargersBoi]

Originally Posted by Stone

So...much...money...

This is one of those scary articles that make every fan say "We have to win the big one NOW." And it should be - the window for getting it done is very small, and you have to get through it when it is open because you'll never know what the future holds.

Thats why it is good to get the contracts and all of that stuff done. You can hvae a very talented player on your team. Just imagined if we never signed Gates. Just imagine how we would looked at TE. I always looked at if a player didnt get drafted dont mean he suck. I think every player in the NFL has/had potential when they first came in. its just a matter of fact if you try to keep that potential up or not with ypur coaches.

[Chargeroo]

You can't keep them all, even though you want to. I expect that we'll lose Florence at the end of this year. When we get to the years where 5 or 6 guys are due for a new contract, we won't be able to sign them all. Hopefully, they'll be able to trade some of them and get extra picks for them to keep the roster filled in. The key, it seems to me, is to take action ahead of time. That can mean signing them to new contracts before their final year arrives or at least finding out they won't sign before that final year arrives so they can be traded. One lesson history teaches us is no team can stay on top every year but the best run teams stay at or near the top for long periods of time and that's what we all hope our team can do.

[Xenos]

Seeing as how the cap goes up even more next offseason, and combined that with the fact that we didn't sign any other FA except our own, I suspect that at least half of those people mentioned will be resigned before they can come close to FA. Igor has priority since he can option out of his contract in 2009. Other priorities include McNeill, Castillo, Merriman, and VJ. Rivers' contract actually runs through 2010 because he sat out the first two years. We can probably resign Igor, McNeill, and maybe Castillo next offseason. This is also taking account the other backup players that we need to extend as well as our the draft picks.

[drangus]

So far they have been rewriting the book on resigning players before their deals expire, I can't imagine that

philosophy changing anytime soon, it is much cheaper to reward your own core players before their deals

expire and there is less risk involved because you already know what you are getting, in addition it promotes

continuity and chemistry, as long as they continue to keep the right guys they will be alright, we cannot

afford to lose the guys that provide leadership and production ala LT as the team becomes more and more

seasoned it will be able to overcome key losses better, but I believe that if the current style of management

continues, it will be the rare occurence rather than the norm like the patriots who seem to lose someone every year