Chargers paying price for spending less
By mdelaney
The San Diego Chargers are cheap, and it is costing them wins and fans.
You get out what you put in. It’s a mantra many people use to guide their lives, particularly those in the results-driven business of sports. But for NFL owner Dean Spanos and his cheap San Diego Chargers, the lack of fiscal input is ruining the team’s on-field output.
Spanos’ frugality manifested itself in third-overall pick defensive end Joey Bosa’s contract holdout. Terms were so sour Bosa’s holdout lasted roughly two months, preventing him from making his NFL debut until five days ago against the Oakland Raiders.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone, though. San Diego is notorious for low-balling whatever talent is brought into their mitts with an arrogant sense of audacity.
LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers and Shawne Merriman all butted heads with the Chargers over their rookie contracts. San Diego also wringed out then-wide receiver Vincent Jackson’s rookie contract from 2005-10 and franchise tagged him an extra season in 2011, expediting his departure for Tampa Bay (and financial security) in 2012. Antonio Gates also delayed his return to the team in 2005 because Gates didn’t feel he was getting the payment he deserved for prowess.
Between these five players are 24 Pro Bowl appearances, being labeled All-Pro seven times, one MVP award and heavy consideration for the Hall of Fame in Gates, Tomlinson and Rivers’ case. Yet they each had to haggle or resort to lengthy holdouts just to earn money they’re entitled to.
Even coaches get shafted by San Diego. Current head coach Mike McCoy was guaranteed the least amount of money of all new coaching hires in 2013, but was also the only newly hired coach to win a playoff game that year. Seems a bit underhanded when you put that into context.
Expecting to cobble together premier talent on a dime only works when success comes early and often. San Diego’s inability to produce competitive teams since McCoy’s first year at the helm has made convincing players to stick around that much harder. Why stay when they could get paid more to lose elsewhere? It’s an easy decision for player’s to come to, especially considering that the Chargers’ season looks to permanently go in the tank with a home game against Denver tomorrow.
San Diego is a long-tenured football franchise. That history gives its brand gravitas that other franchises dream of, even with it’s up-and-down performances over the years.
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However, Spanos’ penny-pinching regime is poisoning what good the franchise has left. Poor relations between players and ownership have become so off-putting that newcomers to the organization are entering on bad terms. Their strife represents the rift between Spanos and his players, preventing the team from achieving any success in the near or distant future.
The Chargers need to get its act–and its bank accounts–in order. Otherwise clouds will continue to shroud Southern California.