Highest Paid Tight End in the League

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.