I’m sure news about contracts being signed is welcome in San Diego. Lately, with all of these holdout talks, it’s been pretty taxing because we have no projected end in sight other than the speculation that Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill could hold out as late as after week eleven. As long as they get six games in the books, they will pick up an accrued season.

To say that this summer has been turbulent for the Chargers this summer would be an understatement. So far, we have had two rookies and two returners get cut, two star players in a standoff with management, and a partridge in a bloody pear tree. These past weeks have been icing on an ugly cake after the departures of several of last years starters earlier in the off-season.

Sometimes you have to think about last season. We got a lot younger at some positions, and there was a 2-3 start to the season. Injuries led to five different combinations of starting offensive linemen throughout the season. If our linemen on both sides of the ball can stay healthy then we can get away with getting younger and still make championship runs. We have to stay strong in the trenches if we want to get in the end zone and hang with the rest of the best in the post season. The only thing that can be said so far is that this is going to be a hell of a ride.

Giving teams this much time to plan and adjust their boards according to new events caused a spike in the trading of draft picks on an exciting level. Plus with more time in between rounds, general managers are less likely to panic and end up doing something that might even get them fired somewhere down the line.

This, in some ways, put more pressure on our general manager to move up in the third round after dealing our second round pick to the Dolphins. Even more pressure was felt to get good value for this pick. Since nose tackles Dan Williams and Terrence Cody were taken, the logical step was to take one of the best players on the board while still being intuitive to the needs of the team.

The disappearance of Cody and Williams pointed to the Chargers taking Cam Thomas in the 5th round. They even traded picks with the Eagles in order to move up in that round and lock that big new nose tackle down. So, what about this third round pick? Wait a second, there is a vacancy on the depth chart at middle linebacker with Tim Dobbins being dealt to the Dolphins. In turn, we filled that vacancy by selecting Donald Butler from the University of Washington. Butler plays the run very very well, and we could really use that kind of insight in the interior of our defense. Let’s just say that we were having some trouble stopping the run… Let’s just say. No need to delve into that any further with the additions of Butler and Thomas.

Throw in strong safety, Darrell Stuckey, and we have ourselves a re-enforced run defense for 2010. Stuckey is comfortable playing in the box and will make a great addition on the strong side. This was a fantastic fourth round selection and between those three defensive draft picks, a message has been sent to rushing teams in the AFC that we will be ready for them when the time comes.

In the fifth round, in addition to selecting Cam Thomas, the Chargers were given a compensatory pick in the late-fifth round that became quarterback Jonathan Crompton. Obviously, he is here to replace Charlie Whitehurst, who was traded to the Seattle Seahawks on March 18. Crompton had a very productive senior season and will be a welcome addition to our offense,  even if he is just calling signals.

Our seventh round pick, and last pick of the draft, was used to draft tight end Dedrick Epps. Though thought of mainly as a tight end, Epps has also lined up at half back and full back during his career at the University of Miami. A versatile threat like this gives us the ability to be completely unpredictable since he can be placed at (or motioned to) just about anywhere there is a mismatch. I can’t wait to see our new offense and defense in action. I will definitely be there on opening day with a notepad and a tape recorder.

Stay tuned throughout the week as I finish up analyzing the twenty un-drafted free agents we recently agreed to terms with. In the mean time, here’s a list of the 20 freshly signed Chargers for your viewing pleasure. This list was found on www.chargers.com.

The San Diego Chargers agreed to contract terms with the following 20 rookie free agents.

• Seyi Ajirotutu (Say-EE Ah-JEER-ah-too-too) WR Fresno State
• Brady Bond T Oklahoma State
• Richard Brockel (BRAH-kul)  TE Boise State
• Dajleon Farr (DAY-lee-on) TE Memphis
• Richard Goodman WR Florida State
• Jeff Hansen C-G Montana State
• Cory Jackson FB Maryland
• Jordyn Jackson WR Eastern Oregon
• Justin Jeffries T Kentucky
• Cort Johnson P West Texas A&M
• Brandon Lang LB Troy State
• Shawnbrey McNeal (SHAWN-bray) RB Southern Methodist
• Ryan Otterson T Wyoming
• Stephan Richmond T TCU
• Traye Simmons CB Minnesota
• Ernest Smith WR Baylor
• Marcel Thompson WR Lindenwood University, Mo.
• Bryan Walters WR Cornell
• Jeremy Williams WR Tulane
• Kion Wilson (KEY-on) LB South Florida