Dean Spanos has grown a reputation among LA Chargers fans for some of the decisions he has made over the years. Highlighted by moving the team from San Diego to Los Angeles, Spanos has made several decisions that have provoked ire from the fanbase.
Spanos' stock has actually gone up since the start of 2024 as the team not only splurged on hiring Jim Harbaugh, but opened a brand-new, state-of-the-art training facility in El Segundo.
It's always one step forward, two steps back with Chargers ownership. The Chargers have exclusively signed cheap short-term deals in free agency, leaving many to believe that ownership has a say in the team's moves.
As if that wasn't enough for fans to get frustrated with Spanos, franchise icon Quentin Jammer recently revealed that he actually tried to return to the Chargers to end his career a decade ago. Yet for reasons that remain unclear, the Chargers had no interest in bringing Jammer back.
True story. I wanted to retire a charger but when I offered to play my last year for league min they decided to sign Derek Cox. So while the chargers r dear to my heart I have an absolute allegiance to fookin no one!! I’m just retired
— Quentin Jammer (@JAM_I_AM_23) March 15, 2025
Chargers denied Quentin Jammer's dream of retiring as a Charger
Jammer was drafted with the fifth-overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft and spent strong 12 years with the Chargers. The veteran corner joined the Denver Broncos for a one-year stint in 2013, which was his last in the NFL.
That season could have been spent with the Chargers, though. The Chargers signed Derek Cox to a four-year, $20 million contract (which was substantial
at the time), leaving no room for Jammer to re-sign with the team even though he was willing to play for the league minimum.
In classic Chargers fashion, the decision to burn one of the best cornerbacks in franchise history did not work out for the team. Cox spent just one season with the Chargers and was a major disappointment who played just 56% of the team's defensive snaps.
The Chargers released Cox a year after they signed him and he would not play another NFL game again. Cox signed with several teams over the next two years but was usually cut just days after he signed.
Jammer, meanwhile, had to play the last NFL game of his career wearing a rival uniform. Jammer hardly played for the Broncos in 2013 but he could have had a bigger impact on the Chargers than Cox did.
When asked it was an ownership decision or a GM decision Jammer essentially said it was all the same to him. So while Jammer didn't outright blame Spanos, the Chargers owner could have still kept him around if he really wanted to treat the franchise icon right.