What’s Left for the Chargers In Free Agency

Sep 22, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans wide receiver

(18) leaps to catch a pass against San Diego Chargers defensive back

(37) during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

So Telesco didn’t make that big free agency splash some critics thought he would do. I expected him not to, since we are broke in cap space. But we did pick up players that added better depth to our roster. Our best pickup so far has been ex-Colt Donald Brown. I will be honest, I was pretty upset when I found out we snagged him… Why? I really wanted to bring in a young rookie from the draft like De’Anthony Thomas or a player like him in the later rounds. But picking up Donald Brown wasn’t a bad idea, I mean he is a hell of a lot better than Ronnie Brown after seeing what he was able to do last year. But then again, his nickname in Indianapolis was “Damnit Donald”… you could only imagine why they gave him that name, he made too many mistakes. Hopefully he can carry his momentum from last season and continue his 5.3 yards per carry when we need him to.

Some other notable mentions we picked up in free agency so far include TE David Johnson and LB Cavell Conner (another ex-colt, sigh). Now we do have other holes that are still of a bigger need that we have to address soon. These positions include cornerback, wide receiver, nose tackle, guard, center and maybe safety. It looks like we will be filling in these holes in the draft since Telesco has been pretty quite the last couple days. He has been making strides to fill our need for a wide receiver through free agency but he hasn’t found any luck so far. Other than that, he hasn’t been doing too much, which I don’t blame him for it, we have almost no money (Love you too A.J). So without further adieu, here are our few options we have available to us in free agency before we head into the draft:

Nose Tackle:

• Peria Jerry – I like the option of going with Jerry on this one, he is 29 years of age but is definitely an up grade over what we currently have. He has great burst speed coming off the line of scrimmage and he has a nose for the football, which I love seeing in players. He managed 3.5 sacks last season, and is a really great threat when healthy. If he can manage not to damage himself, he will be a great addition to this squad. He should come cheap too, so it will be light on TT’s wallet.
• Alex Carrington – he is also another great addition to this squad, he is on the younger side, 26 years of age. He is really good when it comes to blitzing but he can be a little lazy when trying to hunt down the QB from behind. And he is little more versatile, being able to play both NT and DE positions which can be a plus for us if someone were to get hurt.

Our options in this position are running a little thin, so it looks like were going to pick up a NT in the draft and have that player start right away, which I am not a fan of doing, I’m the type to let a newbie develop and then hit the field, but no worries, it would be a better decision to pick up a rookie for this position, plus he will come cheap too.

Wide Receiver:

• Kenny Britt – He is arguably the best available free agent WR in the market right now, and he wont command that much money since he has had injury issues and off field issues as well. but I’m willing to give him a chance because he is really good at what he does when healthy and is definitely worth the risk.
• Danario Alexander – things don’t look too good for Alexander, his most recent surgery is giving his knee more complications, he has suffered from a troublesome infection, he might still be able to make it back before the 2014 year. He showed great chemistry with Rivers and a lot of confidence as a deep ball threat as well. He will be cheap for us too, he would most likely be given a similar contract as the one he received last year, about 1.5 Million for 1 season. It would be nice to see him back, but the 25 year olds career might be in jeopardy.
• Davone Bess – I like Bess, he can man the outside opposite of Allen and can return kicks too, which is a plus. He had a good run with the Dolphins but didn’t do much with the Browns, but he had no one good throwing to him. Now if he had a QB like Rivers throwing to him he could actually do something with the ball, he has great speed and good hands and is only 28 years of age, I would sign him to a 1-2 year contract just to test him.

The list on this position still has some good talent left, but the majority are a bit on the older side. We don’t have a true #2 receiver, and Malcolm Floyd and DX are both big question marks, they just can’t play a full season of football so expect Telesco to pick up a WR in the draft if we don’t pick one up soon.

Cornerback:

It doesn’t look like were picking up our featured CB in Free Agency, that’s a huge sign that we will be picking up our guy in the Draft, expect players like Kyle Fuller, Darqueze Dennard, Jason Verrett, Stanely Jean-Baptiste and other players of that caliber as a potential target for us in the draft. I just don’t see Telesco picking up some old guy in free agency since he mentioned that he wanted speed and youth on this squad, and there is nothing but the exact opposite of what were looking for in free agency.

Center/Guard:

We are definitely going to draft a center/guard or pick up an undrafted rookie. The only guys available in free agency are all old, and that’s not something we want to do since Nick Hardwick is probably going to leave next season. I say draft a kid in the later rounds and have him learn from Hardwick as much as possible while he is still here. Same applies to Jeromey Clary‘s replacement, Clary wont cut it, but draft a dude to take his position. And don’t let Clary anywhere near the kid in terms of mentoring. He is better off getting tips from D.J Fluker for priming his techniques.  That’s our best option.

Safety:

• Kerry Rhodes – Aw come on guys, this would be a good thing for Addae. Rhodes has no plans to retire, he still has plenty of tread left on those tires. Yes, we all know about those rumors of Rhodes being accused of being a homosexual (they were false accusations) but its OK. He could mentor Addae for a season and then unleash the beast within Addae the season after that. We can switch it up with them so Rhodes can play in certain packages and Addae in others. He will come cheap too, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

Expect a late round pick up of a safety or Deone Buccanon early since the Chargers have clearly expressed huge interests in him, that would give our SS corps some competition and the lesser man will be solid backup for the roster.

Other than that guys, I really don’t see Telesco making huge strides to pick up players to fill these positions within the next couple days. He will most likely try to address these all in the draft, but it would be nice to see one or two more pickups to lessen our laundry list for the draft. Lets see what happens, in the mean time, chillax for the next couple weeks and don’t expect too much from Telesco.