In an interview with San Diego radio station XX 1090 on Tuesday, Chargers’ running back LaDainian Tomlinson said that he was unhappy with the changes in the organization and that he wouldn’t take a paycut under any circumstances.
Today, beat writer Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote that the Chargers will likely release Tomlinson before his $2 million roster bonus is due on March 5.
Tomlinson is due a $2 million roster bonus on March 5, the first day of the new league year. Provided the new league year is not postponed to allow for further collective bargaining negotiations, Tomlinson will likely be released before then, because the Chargers don’t seem inclined to pay his $5 million total salary. Both sides have said since a restructuring of Tomlinson’s contract last March that the deal would not be reworked again.
This is a breakup that seems destined to happen. The Chargers’ running game was ineffective last season and a 30-year-old Tomlinson isn’t the solution to their problems. With each passing day, it appears more and more likely that LT will be in a different uniform next season.
The question now becomes whether or not other teams will view him as a starter. I think that he could still be effective in a platoon, but I don’t see any team wanting LT to carry the rock 20-plus times a game now. Not that he could anyway with his durability concerns.
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