Thoughts on LT & Chargers

Guess what San Diego? LT is not going anywhere. He's not going to be released, hes not going to be traded. He has already said in an interview with FOX Sports Radio that he would take a pay cut to stay in San Diego. Spanos and AJ Smith are already buttering him up and being as nice as possible and saying all the right things to the media because they are 100% going to ask him to take a pay cut. Its the only way the Chargers will be able to resign all players that are up for free agency. If he takes the pay cut it will be the final proof of the stand-up guy that LT is. He loves San Diego, and he loves being a Charger. Time and time again he has said he wants to finish up his career here. I would honestly be shocked if he left for more money. There are also several reasons why it would be a HUGE mistake on the Chargers part to let him go.

Reason #1 - Who would take over the starting RB position? I'm sure teams would be shaking in their boots at the thought of a Sproles, Hester, Bennett platoon. Give me a break. Sproles is an amazing explosive player but everyone saw what happened in Pittsburgh. He just cant grind it out. I lost track of the amount of times he got WWE-style power slammed into the ground in the Colts playoff game. There is no way he could last a whole season and stay healthy and Sproles is a guy that absolutely has to be at or near 100% to maintain his explosiveness and be dangerous. We would have to bring in Shaun Alexander or Fred Taylor or some other washed up 30+ year old RB. Which leads me to my next point.

Reason #2 - The whole reason that there is even a discussion of LT leaving is because of the salary cap hit his contract presents. After Rivers gets his new contract and we resign the 8+ players we need to resign (Sproles being one of them), there wont be enough money left for a marquee free agent running back. AJ Smith has already publicly said that he is not willing to go through free agency to fix weak spots on the team.

Reason #3 - LT desperatly wants to win an NFL championship...but what contenders would he go to? Indy, Philly, NY Giants, Dallas, Washington, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Miami, & Minnesota all have young franchise running backs. Where is he gonna go? Arizona? New England? After the 2007 AFC Championship game we lost to New England and the comments LT made about that team and Belichick there is no way he would go there (by the way if that did happen, this will be my last blog because I would never be able to watch football again...it would be too painful). He honestly has just a good of a chance to win a Super Bowl as a Charger.

Reason #4 - Ladainian Tomlinson jerseys are by far the #1 selling Charger jersey and LT is also their most marketable player. The revenue hit that the Chargers would take would not be worth it. We are in a financial crisis after all.

Reason #5 - In an injury riddled year, LT still rushed for 1110 yards and 11 TDs and had 426 yards and 1 TD receiving. Those 1110 yards still had him as #10 overall. He only fumbled once and it wasnt even lost. In fact, in his last 7 seasons he has only lost 5 fumbles. Five! He'll never repeat his 1800 yard, 28 TD performance. But dont kid yourselves into thinking his career is over.

So to all of you negative, fair weather San Diego sports fans out there....Stop saying LT is all about the money, that he has no heart, that he does not want to be a Charger, and to tell him not to let the door hit him on the ass on the way out. And to Jordan and Earl on XX1090, stop saying root for the jersey and not for the player. Its just another cliche phrase that stereotypes sports players and its not all about the money for everyone. LT is a Charger, one of the greatest Chargers.

One final thought. How often do you as a fan get to say that you got to watch one of the greatest running backs of all time play out his entire career for your team? This stuff doesnt happen every day, it happens once in a lifetime. Dont fool yourself into thinking hes not worth keeping around. San Diego with a healthy LT and Merriman will be an extremely dangerous team next year.