Antonio Gates agreed to a $36.175 million, five-year contract extension, with $20.4 million guaranteed, with the deal ending after the 2015 season. Considering what he has done this past six years and a monster year last year, this extension is greatly well deserved. If anything the deal could be even a little more and I wouldn't be mad at it.
This deal pretty much locks the Chargers to the best QB/TE combo in the league for the next six seasons. In my opinion Gates is the key cog to the Chargers passing attack. Lined up next to the tackles, slot, or spread wide, Gates demands a double team once the ball is hiked. Because of that we see plenty of one on one coverage for the Chargers sideline WRs. He is a decent blocker, but his job is really with his pass catching ability and keeping the defenses honest. Off the block he is one of the best and you can see him catching that ball on a precisely ran route or show off with a patented one hand catch.
So now that Gates is signed to an extension, what does this mean for Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill? Gates back in 2005 also held out and eventually got a new contract but was suspended by the team for one game. One difference between Gates and the holdouts now is that Gates was severely underpaid for his production similar to Chris Johnson's contract/production dispute. Though Mac and VJ are currently underpaid, there have been contract negotiations and it seems that both Mac and VJ's parties are reaching for more than what the Chargers sees them as worth. IMO Mac deserves top 5 tackle money and VJ top 10 WR money (with a deal that has a huge % of guaranteed money). McNeill has been a trooper for the Chargers just like Gates since coming in so I see him getting paid early season. As for VJ's future, it really is up in the air. It all depends if the Chargers want to catch it or have another team intercept it.
Antonio Gates numbers since coming into the league: leads tight ends in touchdown catches with 59. He ranks second in yards, 6,223, and third in catches, 479.
Learn, discuss and debate what's going on with the teams in the NFL's AFC Western Division minus the hate, immaturity and stupidity found on the ESPN Blog or anywhere else.
Great post Jefffree. Thanks for the personal thoughts as well. I've been saying since I heard it go down that I believe AJ and Dean wanted to avert a crisis next year when Antonio's previous contract expired. AND I think Gates learned a lot from his first time around when he held out. The lesson he learned was play hard, be humble, reward the team with your work ethic and prove yourself on the field without being a distraction and you will get yours from management. VJ and Marcus think they can make demands... Well, actions speak louder than words and the actions we are seeing from these two guys is a lot of sulking and pouting and attitude. That doesn't go very far with AJ. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteYup. Hey Dino if the Chargers falter this season w/out McNeill and VJ, do you think it might be the end of AJ Smith? I'm not not a big fan of this standoff and I do think that AJ should relax a bit but I don't think we should really fault him for this mess.
ReplyDeleteJefffree... I don't think AJ would be going anywhere soon. He still has the complete support of Dean Spanos. If the Bolts do falter w/out McNeill and VJ the fall guy who will get punished first will be Norv. Then AJ will pick another tool for himself and when that doesn't work maybe Dean will consider going in another direction...
ReplyDeleteThis was great to hear and well deserved for Gates. It will make the VJ/McNeill situation even more interesting to watch as we go along. Great post!!
ReplyDeleteHey congrats to charger fans and gates the guy is a great player and might be the best tight end that ever played the game. I'm psyched to know that for 5 years to come he will be a threat in the afc west.
ReplyDeleteI know this is off topic but I wanted to talk about the McClain contract. So far this guy has looked great and has been true to his word and made it into camp on time. I can't help but be excited and I love seeing a rookie that seems to have the hopes of raider nation on his shouders get into camp on time along with the rest of the raiders. I can't wait to see this guy in the nfl.
ReplyDeleteI think signing Gates long term locks up AJ as the GM. No matter what happens now with the other three, he can point to Gates and Floyd. That easily detracts any true heat that he could get. This really puts the ball in McNeil, Jackson, and Merriman's court. They have to make the move to sign now. AJ has already shown that he will deal with his players. Well played sir, well played.
ReplyDeletethose knuckleheads over in s.d. that are holding out for more $$ should be taking this future hof advice ,... suit up , show up , and get paid !!! gates was a solid move on ajs behalf and well deserved for gates !! so i wonder what mcn , jak , and merr pimps i mean agents are doing now !
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