The Chargers are primed for a busy offseason defined

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unrestricted free agents the Chargers will re-signKirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsThe
Chargers are primed for a busy offseason defined by a number of internal
personnel decisions. Some of those decisions will be easy, while others could
prove to be exceedingly difficult for a variety of reasons. Either way, they
have to make all of these decisions between February 4th and the beginning of
free agency on March 13th.As it stands right now, Los Angeles has 15 players set
to become unrestricted free agents at 4pm EST on March 13th. There are some big
names and key contributors on this list, a few depth pieces, and a handful of
expendable players who are likely to be cut loose.This is the third installment
of my offseason plan series, in which I will cover all of the offseason moves I
would make leading up to the draft. We already discussed the cuts, restructures
and extensions I would pursue, as well as the team’s restricted and exclusive
rights free agents, so let’s dive into the six unrestricted free agents I expect
the team to re-sign this offseason. We’ll talk about the season they had in
2018, what I expect the team to do, and what their contracts will look
like.Let’s get started…Adrian PhillipsAdrian Phillips was the Chargers most
improved player, if not the most improved player in the NFL in 2018. The
fifth-year defender led the NFL in special teams tackles (19) while finishing
among the Bolts’ top five defenders in solo tackles (77), assists (29), total
tackles (94), and passes defensed (10). Adrian also earned first team All Pro,
Pro Bowl and Professional Football Writers of America All-NFL Team honors for
his work on special teams. Needless to say, he’s going to get paid.If any of the
Los Angeles free agents are a lock to be re-signed this offseason, it’s probably
Adrian Phillips. Adrian is the definition of a homegrown player in the NFL,
having worked his way up from being an undrafted free agent to an All Pro over
the last five years. I would expect Jahleel Addae’s four-year, $22,500,000
contract to set the (extreme) floor, while Adrian’s representatives will shoot
for something more along the lines of Darian Stewart’s four year, $28,000,000
contract. They’ll settle somewhere in the middle.Projected Market Value: 4
years, $26,500,000 with $8.5M in guaranteesOdds of being retained: 80/20Darius
PhilonDarius Philon led the Chargers interior defensive linemen in sacks (4) and
tackles for loss (9). He also finished second among defensive tackles in
assists Forrest Lamp Jerseys 2019 , solo tackles and total tackles. Philon was their most consistent interior defender and seems primed to excel in an expanded role
next season. It’s hard to imagine the front office not bringing Darius back
considering the turnover they’re likely to experience at the position this
offseason.While productive, and certainly trending in the right direction in his
career, Darius probably won’t command a ton of money. With that in mind, I
expect the team to use Damion Square’s two-year, $4,000,000 contract as a
baseline. Taking Darius’ large role and the NFL’s ever-growing salary cap into
account, I think #93 gets an extra year and an additional $1,000,000 per
year.Projected Market Value: 3 years, $9,000,000 with $2.25M in guaranteesOdds
of being re-signed: 65/35*I’d feel better about Darius being retained if the
team hadn’t scaled back his snaps down the stretch.Damion SquareAfter replacing
Isaac Rochell as the starting base end in week five, Damion Square did much of
the dirty work against the run and provided invaluable interior pressure in
passing situations. While the stat line may not stand out much (31 tackles, 3
sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 3 passes defensed), his effort and energy played a
key role in the transformation of the Chargers defense over the final 12 games
of the 2018 season and, I suspect, earned him a couple more years with the
team.The team loves Square, and rightfully so. He is a true team player, playing
key minutes at both defensive tackle positions and Joey Bosa’s base end spot. My
guess is the Chargers will offer Damion a deal that closely resembles his most
recent contract, adding a slight pay increase and throwing a nice guarantee his
way.Projected Market Value: 2 years, $5,500,000, $1,750,000 guaranteedOdds of
re-signing: 70/30Kyle EmanuelKyle Emanuel posted 30 tackles, four tackles for
loss, one sack White Mike Williams Jerseys , one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown while appearing in all 16 games in 2018. He is widely
considered the team’s best edge-setter (debatable) and a core special teams
player, but he is also a liability in coverage and offers next to nothing as a
pass rusher. The team also inexplicably thinks he’s a suitable backup at the
MIKE and WILL linebacker positions.This is something of a tricky contract to
find comps for because, while Emanuel is technically a defensive “starter”, he
doesn’t play starter snaps and is primarily valued on special teams. He also
made $1,900,000+ in 2018 and will almost certainly sign for something between
$2,500,000 and $3,000,000 per year. Is Kyle worth that sort of commitment
considering the team is likely to reduce his role on defense? I don’t think so,
but I suspect the team will see things differently.Projected Market Value: Two
years, $5,750,000, $250,000 guaranteedOdds of being re-signed: 60/40Geremy
DavisGeremy Davis had a great training camp and preseason before ultimately
earning the fifth wide receiver position coming out of camp. While he didn’t see
much time at wide receiver, he played extremely hard on special teams, finishing
the season with 10 special teams tackles. It stands to reason he could enter
camp with an inside track on the third or fourth spot on the wide receiver depth
chart depending on what happens with Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin this
offseason.The team could very well part ways with both Tyrell Williams and
Travis Benjamin this offseason. Should they decide to go that route, it could
either lead to a larger role in the offense for Geremy Davis, or entice the team
to sign veteran depth behind Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Either way, Davis
should come cheap and will probably at least head into camp with a chance with
an inside track on one of the final three spots at wide receiver.Projected
Market Value: One Year, $850,000 with $100,000 in guaranteesOdds of being
re-signed: 65/35Jaylen Watkins2018 Season: Jaylen Watkins signed a one year,
$800,000 contract with the Chargers last offseason and was, by all accounts,
enjoying a solid training camp and preseason before he tore an anterior cruciate
ligament during the second preseason game. Watkins can play nickel corner and
safety, and signing him creates competition throughout the secondary when
healthy.The Chargers obviously liked Jaylen Watkins enough to sign him last
offseason, and I have a feeling they’ll probably give him a second chance this
offseason. He should come relatively inexpensively and Mike Williams Jerseys 2019 , as I mentioned above, bringing him back breeds competition in the secondary. Maybe bringing Jaylen back allows the team to
transition Jahleel Addae into a more suitable dime linebacker role, while giving
Watkins and Adrian Phillips a chance to compete at free safety.Projected Market
Value: One year, $850,000 with $150,000 in guarantees.Odds of being re-signed:
60/40You probably noticed the absence of players like Tyrell Williams, Denzel
Perryman, Jason Verrett and Antonio Gates from this list. As you might have
guessed based on their absence, I believe the team will part ways with each of
them for one reason or another this offseason. I’ll discuss those at length in
my next article.So, in summary, I expect the Chargers to make every effort to
retain Adrian Phillips, Darius Philon, Damion Square, Kyle Emanuel, Geremy Davis
and Jaylen Watkins. While I’m on board with re-signing Phillips, Philon, Square,
and Davis, I could go either way on Watkins. And I’m ready to part ways with
Emanuel. In my opinion, Darius Philon is probably the most likely player on this
list to outperform his deal, while it will probably be very difficult to get a
justifiable return on a market deal for Kyle Emanuel.Thanks for reading and
please keep an eye out for my next off-season piece – Four unrestricted free
agents the Chargers will not re-sign.Let me know what you think in the comments
section… Chargers running back Melvin Gordon is headed into the final year of
the contract he signed as a 2015 first-round pick and that means there will be
questions about a contract extension this offseason.General Manager Tom Telesco
fielded one of them at a Thursday press conference from the Scouting Combine in
Indianapolis. He said an extension is something they’ll consider, but that there
isn’t a timetable to get it wrapped up.“I thought he had a great year and was
highly productive for us this year,” Telesco said. “He’s a three-down back and
puts a lot of balls in the end zone for us, a lot of touchdowns. He’s a great
player. We’ve got him and a number of other guys that will look at extending at
some point. I don’t have a timetable on those guys, but we’ve gotten to the
point if we’re going to say our philosophy is to draft, develop and re-sign, we
want to extend those guys we’d like to have back long-term. But I don’t have a
timetable on anything like that.”Gordon is likely OK with waiting at least a few
weeks to open discussions with the Chargers. He said in January that he is
“sitting back waiting” to see what happens with Le'Veon Bell before pondering
his own contractual future. With the new league year opening on March 13, it
shouldn’t be too long before there’s word on Bell’s deal.
Posted 31 Jul 2019

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