Rivers, Mathews.... 1 year Interview.

[The Stig]

IMO, Mathews has 1 more year to prove himself, as he is ridiculous when he can perform, but McCoy has to know he has to get a better back-up plan in place. Ronnie Brown was epic on 3rd down catches last year, but he's probably retiring, Brinkley is just a guy, and Baker hasn't been given a chance yet. I can see a RB being drafted in the moderate rounds.

[jamfed]

Originally Posted by The Stig

AJ didn't screw anything with Gaither. AJ got screwed by the guy and in turn got fired because he decided to eat sandwiches on the sideline instead of blocking.

Jared Gaither makes $4.5 million in 2013. That's NOT a lot of money for an NFL left tackle. At the time, he was worth the risk, but it failed. And AJ Smith failed by not having a quality back up in place (granted Dombrowski was hurt too).

FREAK INJURY YEAR for sure!

I expect Gaither to keep his job in 2013, and SD will draft a Left Tackle (so they don't have to pay $10MM per year to the Jake Long's of the world).

[Packhorse]

Originally Posted by jamfed

Jared Gaither makes $4.5 million in 2013. That's NOT a lot of money for an NFL left tackle. At the time, he was worth the risk, but it failed. And AJ Smith failed by not having a quality back up in place (granted Dombrowski was hurt too).

FREAK INJURY YEAR for sure!

I expect Gaither to keep his job in 2013, and SD will draft a Left Tackle (so they don't have to pay $10MM per year to the Jake Long's of the world).

Dombrowski is not an adequate replacment, not even close. Being a good GM means you evaluate players on more than a 5 game snapshot. Gaither had already washed out of 2 franchises, and the fact he actually has talent makes it all that more obvious. He's a bum, and there's not enough excuses in the World to explain why AJ let us go into 2012 with Gaither as our Left Tackle and only Dombro and Harris behind him.

[ktmjim]

Originally Posted by The Stig

IMO, Mathews has 1 more year to prove himself, as he is ridiculous when he can perform, but McCoy has to know he has to get a better back-up plan in place. Ronnie Brown was epic on 3rd down catches last year, but he's probably retiring, Brinkley is just a guy, and Baker hasn't been given a chance yet. I can see a RB being drafted in the moderate rounds.

The team already has a capable backup in place. That would be Mathews. What they have to do is get a true #1.

[JohnnyB1SD]

Originally Posted by Dutchfan

I agree completely !! And the fact that that lazy guy is still the best option at LT is a really bad situation. AJ really screwed the chargers over with that contract !!

Who was or were the other option(s) for LT in that off season? There wasn't one. The good part is there's a new GM, so if he cuts him it doesn't fall on him, he didn't bring him in. The way Gaither played in those last five games someone would of signed him. But if he stays or goes it's part of the new regimes choice. When Dean agreed to pay a GM and HC that wasn't going to be employed with him any longer, I'm sure he understands that there will be some other checks he'll be signing for players that don't play for him either, depending on how fast he wants to get back to the play-offs. If he's looking immediate change he'll have to pay some players that aren't here and maybe some cap fines if he wants to hit the ground running.

For the life of me I still don't understand why contracts aren't structured to protect owners from players like Gaither. At the same time to get players more money when they are playing better then expected or as good as expected and less when not playing as good as expected.

Top rusher gets top rusher money, most sacks gets most sack money and so on and so forth. With a base pay for players that get injured. I believe this would cause players to try harder to make the max amount of money. Then players like Gaither would get what they play for nothing but a base salary.

Hell these types of contracts would save the players from themselves, they would actually have to budget their money, like the rest of us.

[DagoCountyGee]

^^^ this.
If it were up to me, I would structure contracts so that if you get injured or "injured" you would immediately have to give up the rest of your salary. No more cap hits for years to come.

[I AMazing I]

Originally Posted by DagoCountyGee

^^^ this.
If it were up to me, I would structure contracts so that if you get injured or "injured" you would immediately have to give up the rest of your salary. No more cap hits for years to come.

No one would agree to that. Would be nice though.