The situation in San Diego involving Vincent Jackson and the Chargers is getting uglier by the day.

Earlier this offseason, the Chargers extended first and third round tenders on Jackson (a restricted free agent), meaning he would make just over $3 million in 2010. But Jackson wants a long-term contract and has decided to skip all of the team’s organized activities this offseason and is now prepared to sit out into the season if he doesn’t receive a new deal.

The Chargers, meanwhile, have issued a warning to the 27-year-old receiver and tackle Marcus McNeill (who is in a similar boat as Jackson) letting them know that their one-year tenders would be drastically reduced if they didn’t sign them by June 15.

What a threat. I’m sure Jackson and McNeill are currently huddled together in a corner somewhere, shaking uncontrollably at the thought of their tenders reducing from $3 to $1.5 million or whatever the Chargers have in mind. The two players want long-term deals, so threatening them with reduced offers isn’t going to do anything. That’s like telling a child that instead of having the opportunity to play with three crappy toys, he’ll only get the chance to play with one crappy toy if he doesn’t clean up his room. All the toys are crappy – he doesn’t want to play with any of them and therefore, the parent isn’t going to get what he or she wants in the end.

Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL has always been a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league and Shawne Merriman is currently being reminded of that.

In his first three seasons, Merriman posted 188 tackles, 39.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles. But after undergoing major knee surgery before the 2008 season, his numbers have expectedly dropped off. He essentially didn’t play in ’08 and then struggled last year while bouncing back from the injury.

In his last six regular season games, plus his start against the Jets in the playoffs last year, Merriman has zero sacks. He has just one forced fumble in his last 28 starts and finished with only 36 tackles in 14 games last season. While two injury-plagued/unproductive seasons don’t erase three stellar years of service, it’s not unreasonable that the Bolts are holding off on giving Merriman a long-term deal.

No one can fault Merriman for seeking a multi-year contract, especially considering his career has already been threatened once by an injury. Players want the comfort of knowing they’re set up long-term and you can’t hold it against Merriman that’s trying to parlay the success he had in his first three years into a new deal.

That said, you can’t blame the Chargers for wanting to keep him hungry, either. If they paid him now, he may or may not strive to produce. But if they keep that long-term contract carrot dangling in front of him, they know they’re going to get his best effort next season. If he plays well and he moves on next year, then at least they got one last productive season out of him and they already drafted his potential replacement last year in Larry English. If he plays well and wants to stay, then they can feel better about investing in him long-term. If he struggles and has a down year, then they don’t have to commit to him. That might be an unfair scenario for Merriman, but the NFL has always been a business.

Again, I don’t blame Merriman for being upset about his current situation. But what is he going to do? This is the spot he finds himself in and all that’s left is for him to prove that he deserves a long-term deal – whether that’s in San Diego or elsewhere.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Lions beat writer Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com reports that a trade between Detroit and San Diego involving cornerback Antonio Cromartie is now unlikely to happen.

Yesterday, Chargers’ beat writer Kevin Acee reported that Cromartie could be traded to the Lions “soon” and that the 25-year-old cornerback had played his last down in San Diego. But as Kowalski reports, Detroit balked when the Bolts asked for Maurice Morris in return.

The Lions don’t have an abundance of depth at the running back position and Morris proved to be valuable last year when Kevin Smith tore his ACL and battled shoulder problems. Morris would be Detroit’s every down back if the season started today, so the Lions don’t want to create a bigger hole at running back, even if it would mean acquiring a young corner in the process.

So where will San Diego turn now? They probably haven’t found any shortage of teams that need a young cornerback, but the problem is that Cromartie carries plenty of baggage. His contract also expires at the end of the year, so the team acquiring him won’t be willing to give up more than a mid round draft pick in case they can’t sign Cromartie to a long-term deal.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Chargers beat writer Kevin Acee wrote on his Twitter page that Antonio Cromartie “has almost certainly played his last game for the Chargers” and also notes that the cornerback could be traded to the Lions soon.

It’s been rumored for a little over a week now that the Bolts would want a running back in return for Cromartie, which would make the Lions an odd fit seeing as how they don’t have any outside of Kevin Smith. And Smith isn’t going anywhere, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Lions would give up in return for the 25-year-old cornerback.

Cromartie isn’t a fit for the zone scheme, which is what the Chargers used most of last year. The Lions use more press coverage under defensive coordinator Gunter Cunningham, which would allow Cromartie to use his strengths more by getting his hands on receivers early. But what the compensation would be for Cromartie is the question. He’s also only signed through 2010, so the Lions might try to work out a long-term deal before they acquire him.

Another issue that has come under question is Cromartie’s character. He’s only 25-years old, but has at least seven children with six different women in five states. He hasn’t played as well over the past couple of years for the Chargers to put up with his baggage, so the Lions (or any other team for that matter) might get the corner on the cheap.

We’ll see if this story develops.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Chargers’ receiver Vincent Jackson will serve at least 96 hours in jail after pleading guilty to a DUI charge on Tuesday.

From 10 News San Diego:

According to the city attorney’s office, Jackson was given the standard sentence for a DUI with one prior — five years probation, with 96 hours in custody.

Additionally, Jackson will have to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving class, pay a $2,408 fine and participate in a multiple conviction program, the city attorney’s office said.

Seeing as how Jackson was also charged in January for driving without a valid license, there’s a good chance that the NFL will suspend him for at least a game in 2010. That’s just speculation on my part, however.

Jackson is currently a restricted free agent and given how productive he was last season, he could garner some attention from other teams this offseason. As far as pass catching is considered, Jackson was a top 5 wideout in 2009 and he’s not a bad blocker either, thus nobody should be surprised if another team makes a play on him when free agency kicks off in March.

That said, most teams account for character when deciding whether or not to pursue a free agent and given Jackson’s recent off field track record, chances are the Chargers won’t have much trouble retaining his services.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

After spending nine years in San Diego, LaDainian Tomlinson’s Charger career has officially come to an end, as the team released the 30-year-old running back on Monday.

Tomlinson ends his San Diego career after amassing 12,490 rushing yards and 138 rushing touchdowns on 2,880 attempts. Outside of 2009, he never finished with less than 1,110 rushing yards during a season and never totaled less than 10 rushing touchdowns. His best season came in 2006 when he rushed for 1,815 yards and a NFL-record 28 touchdowns, which he still holds today.

While it’s a sad ending to such a fine tenure, Tomlinson didn’t make things easy by ripping the franchise for his lack of carries last year and his criticism of head coach Norv Turner’s pass-first approach. Tomlinson also refused to take a pay cut to stay in San Diego, so nobody can blame the Bolts for saving $5 million ($3 million in salary, $2 million in bonuses) by dumping him now.

Some fans like to blame the Chargers’ offensive line for Tomlinson’s declining numbers over the past two seasons. But while the left side of Marcus McNeill and Kris Dielman left something to be desired in the run blocking department last year, the right side of Jeromey Clary, Louis Vasquez and center Scott Mruczkowski was more than serviceable in opening up running lanes. The fact is that Tomlinson’s skills have just deteriorated after toting the rock so many times throughout his career.

Tomlinson will land with somebody next year. Chances are he’ll have to take a one or two-year deal, but given his experience and exceptional vision, he’ll land on his feet again.

It just won’t be in San Diego, where it was clearly time for both player and team to move on.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, running back LaDainian Tomlinson is likely playing his last season for the Chargers.

LaDainian Tomlinson is still a player who can help the Chargers win, but it seems clear he can no longer win games for them and is likely closing out his final season in San Diego.

The Chargers are averaging 3.1 yards a carry, worst in the NFL. And unless they can start getting some leads and let Tomlinson and others pound the ball while the line gets in a rhythm, that doesn’t look to get much better.

Sunday was the fourth time this season the Chargers rushed 21 times or fewer. They are on pace to rush just 364 times, which would be their fewest since 2000 and third-lowest total ever.

Tomlinson is a player who has served the Chargers incredibly well over his career and it was good to see San Diego rework his contract in the offseason. But it’s been apparent the past two seasons that he’s running on empty and as the article suggests, it looks like his time in San Diego is coming to an end.

That said, in LT’s defense the offensive line hasn’t been good either. The holes just aren’t there like they have been in years past and LT isn’t the only one suffering from it: Darren Sproles is only averaging 3.5 YPC, which is only a mild improvement over Tomlinson’s 3.2 YPC. I still don’t see the same explosion and decision-making out of LT as I did in previous years, but the O-line has played a part in Tomlinson’s decline.

If the Chargers do decide to part ways with LT, they need to find a back that can run between the tackles in the offseason because they could pair him with Sproles to form a nice 1-2 combo. They need a back that can wear opponents down throughout the course of games, because they don’t have that now and their offense remains unbalanced.

Looking back at things, it probably would have been wise to hang onto Michael Turner and part ways with LT, but how would the Chargers know that Tomlinson would break down the past two years? They probably had an idea that his time as a primary back was winding down, but they weren’t going to cut him before last season and pay Turner at the same time. It was unfortunate timing that Turner became a free agent when he did.

Photo from fOTOGLIF