Chargers GM not afraid to play hardball
“The only thing that ever matters — ever — is the San Diego Chargers“
by Alex Marvez | Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com.
A.J. Smith doesnt just draw a line in the sand during stalled contract negotiations.
He paints a more graphic picture than any other NFL general manager.
The Chargers expect to open training camp Friday with three key disgruntled veterans wide receiver Vincent Jackson, left tackle Marcus McNeill and linebacker Shawne Merriman and their unsigned first-round draft pick (running back Ryan Mathews) failing to report. No team, especially a bona fide Super Bowl contender, will have as many missing key pieces.
Nor is there a more bombastic front-office executive willing to play such hardball until the situation is resolved.
Even though his stance could cause locker-room derision, not to mention hurt San Diegos on-field product, Smith says he has no concerns about potentially ruffling feathers.
The only way I can make a glorious, happy, fun-loving locker room is that every player and agent with every demand on every amount of money or length of (contract) is given it, Smith said Wednesday inside his office at Chargers headquarters. Then everyone is happy and I dont have to worry about a trickle-down.
Smith then says the following with emphasis: Its not going to happen.
Not that Smith wants Jackson, McNeill, Merriman or Mathews as unhappy campers. He praised the quartets talent during an hour-long interview with FOXSports.com. He also didnt try to downplay the impact of their prolonged absence. But if they are going to join the Chargers without a lengthy holdout, all four players will be doing so under San Diegos financial terms.
The only thing that ever matters ever is the San Diego Chargers. Us, Smith said. If you dont like the way youre treated me, your head coach, your teammates you can get out on your own accord when your contract is up. Thats what you control.
If youre a rookie and have a five-year or four-year (deal), and youre miserable along the way, if I want to extend your contract, say youre not interested. Clearly, I know the window. Youre going to get on the plane and go to another team. Plot your departure. Its business. If I feel that, I will start making moves ahead of time.
An example came in the 2009 draft. San Diego used a first-round pick on Larry English as a potential replacement for Merriman, whose agent was told by Smith this offseason that there were no plans to extend his contract at this point in time. Set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2011, Merriman told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Thursday that he wont report for the start of camp. Merriman said he wants assurances about his immediate future with the team he was the subject of offseason trade talks and his place on the defense.
The situation with Jackson and McNeill is even uglier. Agents for both also were told that long-term deals werent immediately in the offing. They responded by refusing to sign the one-year, $3.2 million contracts tendered by the Chargers as restricted free agents. In turn, Smith lowered their tender offers in June to roughly $600,000 apiece. This led to threats that Jackson and McNeill wouldnt report until the 10th week of the season.
Im not going to ignore that when I found out Vincent and Marcus have withheld services for a considerable length of time its a disappointment like, Oh my goodness, Smith said. Here are two guys who were part of the excitement that are missing. Now, there has to be a step-up (from others). Im used to that, and I get over it very quickly. Im still excited. Were only talking about three players.
Mathews is the fourth, but Smith isnt concerned about his early camp absence even though San Diego doesnt have another workhorse rusher on the roster after releasing LaDainian Tomlinson in February. Rookie running backs can make an immediate impact even if some preseason practice time is missed. Besides, Smith knows he ultimately holds all the leverage when it comes to signing draft choices.
Said Smith: If there happens to be a problem for him, Ill spell it out: Heres your money. Heres your years. We think its a great contract. It is our contract. If you dont like it, you can sit there and decide whats best for you. But let me cut to the chase a little more and tell you how this will progress on our end. We will have a contract offer that will go to a certain point in time. After the third preseason game, youre going to have a new one. After the fourth one, youre going to have a new one. After the first (regular-season) game, youre going to have a new one. If you dont like all of that, you can go back in the draft.
Thats it. You know the odds of people who go back in the draft. So eventually, somewhere along the line, he comes in.
This approach wont win Smith a GM of the Year award from the agent community with which he has long bickered. I would have called the representatives for Merriman, Jackson, McNeill and Mathews asking for comment, but didnt bother. I wasnt being lazy. It just wouldnt have mattered beyond adding another layer of rhetoric. And in Smiths world, it wouldnt have mattered one iota. Listening to his diatribe toward agents, I almost expected Smith to borrow a line from politicians and say, We refuse to negotiate with terrorists.
The agents have the power with the players, said Smith, who has 24 years of pro scouting and front-office experience. They prey on the weak. They fracture from within if they can a coach, an owner and a GM. We dont have those problems here.
Smith isnt completely inflexible. Although he was embroiled in verbal sparring with Tom Condon during the end of Tomlinsons time in San Diego, Smith still struck a deal Wednesday with one of the agents other clients, Antonio Gates.
The agreement, which makes Gates the highest-paid tight end in NFL history, was in the works for some time. But the announcements timing does send a message to the other 15 pending unrestricted free agents who are reporting to camp on time: The Chargers do take care of some of their own.
A lot of people on this team are on the last year of their contract, Smith said. The players and the agents are fine. How can that be? First, theyve got no control over it. But their attitudes were going to come back and play and help the Chargers win and can hopefully stay if they want to or my profession is on the line we have a lot of that. But we tend to focus in the media on the negative because its sensationalizing.
Should the Chargers falter in 2010, the media focus will shift to whether the 61-year-old Smith is the right man for the job. The Chargers have captured four consecutive AFC West titles under his watch, a remarkable total considering the franchise won the same amount in 24 seasons before Smith took the reins in 2003. He has built the team almost exclusively through the draft and wisely signs some quality picks well before their rookie contracts expire. But the Chargers have yet to reach a Super Bowl in the Smith era. The latest disappointment came last season when a 13-3 Chargers squad was upset in the playoffs by the visiting New York Jets.
Smith has long cited the Indianapolis Colts as a model franchise. While they dont always make the Super Bowl, the Colts have at least had a shot by making the playoffs for eight consecutive years.
Smith, though, admits there is a local backlash building from those who dont believe San Diego will ever have what it takes to reach the big one.
The attitude is, These guys are chokers. Nobody cares anymore, he said. I have to back everyone up. I hear ya. Were frustrated, too. Well try and get better each year. Thats what we do.
One thing Smith wont do is change his modus operandi when dealing with San Diegos holdouts.
Im the GM of the Chargers. Youre the agent and theres the player. Its a three-way thing, Smith said. If people come together, we all are happy.
At least, for now, that isnt the case in what has the potential to become the NFLs most toxic training camp environment.