Bolt Beat
Fansided

Bolt Beat Monday Mailbag: Philip Rivers and the fourth quarter

By Tyler Schoon

CARSON, CA - DECEMBER 03: Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers during the game against the Cleveland Browns at StubHub Center on December 3, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA - DECEMBER 03: Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers during the game against the Cleveland Browns at StubHub Center on December 3, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
CARSON, CA – OCTOBER 22: Chris McCain #40 of the Los Angeles Chargers sacks Trevor Siemian #13 of the Denver Broncos in the second quarter during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center on October 22, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA – OCTOBER 22: Chris McCain #40 of the Los Angeles Chargers sacks Trevor Siemian #13 of the Denver Broncos in the second quarter during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center on October 22, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

Welcome to the Bolt Beat Monday Mailbag!

Just a few days away from the NFL Draft, and I couldn’t be more excited. I expect most of the questions coming in this week will be about draft selections. This week, many of you submitted great topics covering a wide variety of ideas. Great work!

How can you send yours in? It’s simple!

  1. On Twitter @tjscooter30
  2. Through email at bbmailbag17@gmail.com 
  3. In the comments section of this article or on our Facebook page

I really enjoyed getting questions from readers that have never sent one in before. Here are the best answers I could give to all of them.

Question 1: Is cutting Chris McCain Lambo 2.0? Comments from Lynn indicate we want to sign him seems like we are going ultra cheap…going cheap on kicker only cost team 3 wins last year. -Scott

Josh Lambo was cut last offseason, replaced with rookie Younghoe Koo, and you know the rest. It was a disaster. One of the main reasons he was cut was his cap hit, as you mentioned. He was more expensive than Koo, an undrafted kicker. But you have to also remember additional circumstances surrounding his release:

  1. Lambo had not made a kick past 50 yards in 2016
  2. Fans didn’t like him after he was photographed laughing with Raiders’ players following a botched field goal
  3. Lambo missed the field goal to force overtime against the winless Browns, giving them their only win of the last two seasons
  4. Koo could have been very marketable if successful (on a larger scale, look at Shohei Ohtani with the Angels)

Cap hit was a concern, but it was not the sole contributing factor. That’s where the comparison to Chris McCain begins to diverge.

McCain, as far as any of us know, was cut purely as a cap casualty. With the defensive end set to make roughly $2 million, the team must have believed the money could be better allocated to a different player. Is it a good move? Depends on how they fill his role. Any first round pick would make more than McCain would have, and any second round pick just a little bit less. The organization is certainly losing out on a high-character guy, though.

In short, he isn’t Lambo 2.0. The move could affect the team, but not as poorly as the decision to replace the kicker. I hope any of that addresses your question in a way that makes sense!

Home/LA Chargers News