"The ball was in A.J. Smith's court; this time, he went directly to LaDainian Tomlinson. Smith, the San Diego Chargers' general manager, called the star running back and had a 10-minute conversation Monday night in an effort to close the chapter on what had been a week long verbal saga (ESPN)."
This all started because there were rumors going around that the Chargers were going to cut LT, since they were happy with the way Darren Sproles played at the end of the season, and they could really use the cap space. The rumors got out of control and players started to weigh in...
"That [stuff] doesn't help bring a Super Bowl to San Diego ... And that [stuff] needs to stop, period. It needs to stop now. We're a team, upstairs and downstairs, no matter what," Merriman added, according to the newspaper. "This is a business, but if you address the situation publicly now you have turmoil. They're going to make decisions upstairs. But we've got to be a team (ESPN)."
Merriman is 100% right. The Chargers need to either cut/trade LT right now, or clear the air with him so he knows he is coming back. The better option is to cut or trade him. His stats have been declining year to year..
2006: 1815 5.2 28 TD
2007: 1474 4.7 15 TD
2008: 1110 3.8 11 TD
He his obviously still a very good player, but he is just not worth the cap hit that he costs the Chargers every year ($8.8 million). He also never seems to be able to play when it counts. In a salary cap league you sometimes have to make tough decisions like this, and they are just better off having Sproles be their guy, and spending that $8.8 million improving the rest of their team. The Chargers' GM has not handled this in the right way, but if he is going to keep LT, then this 10 min phone call is a step in the right direction.
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