The last time the Chargers went 0-11 was in 1975 under Tommy Prothro. Believe it or not, hopes were brighter about the franchise's future then than this year's 0-10 squad.
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Five moves Chargers must make in the offseason
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1. Hire new GM. Hire John Butler of the Bills or Floyd Reese of the Titans and let them make all the football decisions. They are two of the best in the game, and both have built winners on franchises that don't have a lot of cash.
2. Find a no-nonsense coach. If Riley is fired, hire a disciplinarian because some of the players are bringing back the old complaint that the Chargers have a country club atmosphere. True or not, it's one of the problems of being on a losing team in one of the nation's best resort locations. Minds wander in the ocean breezes.
3. Trade Ryan Leaf. Forget about the cap implications, trade Ryan Leaf and move on. Management has two choices. They can clean out the locker room and surround Leaf with new players. The Saints, for example, had the biggest turnover with 30 new players. It's a lot easier to make one change because the players who remain on the roster won't trust Leaf because of his past failings.
4. Acquire Trent Green. Not only that, but possibly reunite Trent Green with Norv Turner if he's let go by the Redskins after the season. The Chargers don't have to do much with their receiving corps of Curtis Conway, Jeff Graham, Trevor Gaylor and tight end Freddie Jones.
5. Wheel and deal at draft. Make two draft-day trades but don't go lower than 10th in the first round. The goal is to end up with two first-rounders to go for a defensive lineman first and an offensive player with the second selection, either quarterback Drew Brees or a top running back. Use the second-round choice on a cornerback. |
Hope was the draft. The drafted rookies from that team were the core group of a playoff run three years later. San Diego's class of 1975 included defensive linemen Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, Louie Kelcher and Fred Dean, tackle Bill Shields and defensive back Mike Fuller. That's the problem of looking ahead for the Chargers.
They have no base of draft choices to build upon, and owner Alex Spanos won't let that happen again. Bobby Beathard's unconventional ways of trading away future first-round picks to take small-college prospects in the second round has left the cupboard bare.
Including practice squaders and injured players, the Chargers have a league-low 19 drafted players on their roster. That's one less than the Cleveland Browns, a second-year expansion team. Even worse, they entered the season as the league's third-oldest team. The average Charger is 27.3 years old.
"We still have a solid defense, and the biggest difference is that we are making more turnovers and we aren't winning the close games we did last year," Chargers head coach Mike Riley said. "Last year, we won five games by a touchdown or less. This year, we are 0-6. We're not that far away. We don't need a total revamping."
What the Chargers need is draft choices, which is why they would trade down if they "earn" the first selection in next year's draft. The scenario wouldn't be that much different than the 49ers, who made two trades to move down 13 spots in the first round to acquire four extra picks (first round, second round, fourth round and fifth round). Internally, Chargers management agrees the team's three priority needs are cornerback, defensive line and halfback.
They can't come to a conclusion what to do at quarterback. Strange as it sounds, quarterback Ryan Leaf may be stuck in a city and locker room in which he may never be able to succeed. Logic says to trade him or release him. To do that, though, means taking a $5.2 million hit on the cap because he hasn't been in the league long enough to have his contract terminated upon his release.
A released player or traded player causes an immediate cap hit. Here's the other problem. Releasing Leaf leaves the team with no quarterbacks because Jim Harbaugh and Moses Moreno aren't expected to be back.
"I feel that it's my job to work with Ryan and develop him as the quarterback," Riley said. "If I made a mistake, it was not staying with Ryan long enough and going with Moses Moreno the third week of the season. It was probably too soon to pull Ryan, but I felt I owed it to the veterans who were playing so hard to get a little spark."
Leaf lost intensity and purpose after the benching, and while Riley believes he can work with Leaf, it's likely that a new coach will be hired after the season. Because the $5 million cap loss virtually kills the Chargers' chances of signing a top free agent or two, the new coach may decide it's better to keep Leaf than lose spending money.
Riley or the next coach will concentrate his rebuilding efforts on the defense. "Our 1998 defense that ranked No. 1 in the league has only three starters left -- Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison and John Parrella," Riley said. "Losing Raylee Johnson, our only pass-rusher, for the season took away a play-maker and forced us to blitz more. Sure, the turnover on defense along with injuries has caused a drop."
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This is a good group because they work so hard. I really don't feel we are that far away. I love working with these guys. ” |
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— Mike Riley, Chargers head coach |
The Chargers are about $7.8 million under next year's cap. They have their six draft choices, missing only their third. They can't afford the luxury of making free agent mistakes similar to the three-year, $9.6 million DeRon Jenkins deal. Whether it was the nagging hamstring injuries or the pressure of being a No. 1 choice, Jenkins has been a first-year bust, so much so that cornerback remains a top priority after the season.
Brad Johnson is the top free agent quarterback, but the Chargers can't sign him and take the Leaf cap hit. By keeping Leaf, they can get in the bidding for running backs Corey Dillon, Charlie Garner or Jerome Bettis to fill the backfield need.
They are also in a tough position for making a trade for quarterbacks Trent Green of the Chargers or Matt Hasselbeck of the Packers. Green would cost at least first- and third-round choices. Hasselbeck won't go for less than a first.
"This is a good group because they work so hard," Riley said. "I really don't feel we are that far away. I love working with these guys."
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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