Before the dust had even settled after Hunter Henry‘s season-ending ACL tear, rumors began to swirl about the Chargers potentially bringing back Antonio Gates. It had just recently been reported that the Chargers were moving on from Gates after his historic 15-year run with the team.
A wrench was possibly thrown into those plans when Henry went down with a devastating non-contact injury during OTAs. Chargers general manager Tom Telesco refused to rule out re-signing Gates when asked about it last week. Now, Gates has at least one public supporter in his longtime quarterback Philip Rivers.
“Well, shoot, I’d always be excited if he walked back in the door obviously,” Rivers said (transcription via PFT). “That’s something that [GM] Tom [Telesco] and [owner] John [Spanos] and coach [Anthony Lynn] and those guys I’m sure will discuss and see about bringing anybody in for that matter, but certainly [Gates’ return] would get my vote.”
Rivers sounds excited about the potential reunion, which makes sense considering his history of utilizing tight ends. For years, Rivers had a reliable target in Gates and he continued that trend last year with Henry. Now, with Gates in limbo and Henry sidelined, Rivers lacks a quality middle-of-the-field and red zone threat at the tight end position.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Dolphins will look to extend cornerback Bobby McCain, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) speculaties. McCain, a fifth-round pick back in 2015, is heading into the final year of his contract. Salguero thinks the Dolphins will look to lock up McCain with an extension sometime after June 1, when the cap space they freed up from the release of Ndamukong Suh becomes available.
- The Browns may look to trade one of their surplus wide receivers, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer opines. After trading for Jarvis Landry and drafting Antonio Callaway and Damion Ratley, the Browns’ wide receiver room is a bit crowded. Cabot thinks returning players Corey Coleman, Ricardo Louis, and Rashard Higgins all will be available for trade at some point this summer. With Josh Gordon in the mix as well, the Browns simply have too many receivers, and will need to deal or cut at least a couple of them.
None of the Browns’ receiver options other than Landry would seem like guys you can rely on. Gordon is one more misstep from being banned, Coleman has been injured and inconsistent, and Callaway is really intriguing but not a sure thing on or off the field. The rest are probably just depth options in an ideal world.
That said, I like that the Browns actually have a surplus of options. A few of those guys will probably end up being solid contributors, but no one is really a sure thing either.
Though I tend to agree with you, Gordon has stayed out of trouble for an extended period time. He has also apparently found a way to avoid the marijuana and alcohol over that time. It seems he has turned a corner, but who knows. I thought that Higgins had a good chance to make an impact on this team when he was drafted based on his impressive college stats but he has failed to do so thus far. Hopefully he can start making some plays in camp and be another impact guy, along with Landry, out of the slot.