City Of San Diego News & Rumors

AFC West Rumors: Broncos, Berry, Chargers

July 6th, 2016 at 11:17am CST by Sam Robinson

Both Von Miller and Eric Berry are on track to sign long-term extensions with their respective teams by next Friday, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com writes.

The Broncos and Chiefs have tagged players for the second straight year, with Denver’s negotiation taking on a higher-profile tone as Kansas City’s unfolds quietly. Corry sees the Broncos structuring a Miller deal in the same way the Eagles constructed Fletcher Cox‘s extension as the compromise necessary to finish the deal.

Denver’s offer of six years and $114.5MM has reportedly satisfied Miller’s camp, but its $38.5MM in fully guaranteed money hasn’t. In Cox’s six-year, $103MM extension, the converting defensive tackle will see $55MM fully guaranteed by next March. The Broncos moving up a portion of Miller’s guaranteed money to vest at the same time and giving the two-time All-Pro approximately $58MM by March of 2017 should be enough to induce a signing, Corry writes, with the former agent not buying the linebacker’s threats to sit out the season since no franchise-tagged player has missed an entire year since Chiefs defensive lineman Dan Williams in 1998.

As for the Chiefs’ current franchise player, Berry should sign for around the same amount as Harrison Smith (five years, $51.5MM), Corry notes. The Chiefs, as they did for several of their recent contract extensions, will likely backload that deal as well. Kansas City is up against the 2016 cap, with $1.17MM in space, so a Berry signing would alleviate that burden somewhat. However, it would add to the Chiefs’ bevy of commitments come 2017 since they stand to possess barely $4MM in space without a Berry deal on the books.

Weigh in with your thoughts on who will and won’t sign long-term deals in PFR’s latest Community Tailgate.

Here’s more from the AFC West.

Denver’s impasse with Miller poses as unique since owner Pat Bowlen is not part of this negotiation, having been stricken with Alzheimer’s. This leaves the full decision up to John Elway, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Florio doubts Broncos president Joe Ellis will overrule Elway’s recommendations for the deal given the Denver GM’s track record. Elway called Miller over the weekend in an attempt to repair a relationship that’s taken some hits recently.
The Broncos’ decision to move on from Evan Mathis after one year stemmed from the former All-Pro guard’s age and condition, Troy Renck of the Denver post writes. Now a Cardinals cog on a one-year deal similar to the one he signed in Denver last August, Mathis battled an ankle injury in 2015 and partook in a three-guard rotation with Louis Vasquez and Max Garcia before returning to full-time status in the playoffs.
The Broncos will be more of a run-oriented team in 2016, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com writes. A reliance on either Mark Sanchez or Paxton Lynch at quarterback points to a greater emphasis on a ground game that enjoyed an inconsistent 2015 season. “I don’t think there’s a question what coach [Gary Kubiak] wants to do,” C.J. Anderson said recently, via Legwold. “All you have to do is look out there and see a fullback running around … I mean, we even drafted one. [Kubiak] wants to run the ball.” The Broncos drafted fullback Andy Janovich in the sixth round after being a one-back offense in a season spent shifting between styles in Peyton Manning‘s final year.
A poll conducted by Competitive Edge Research showed the Chargers‘ downtown stadium measure probably wouldn’t pass even if just 50% of the vote was needed, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. A California State Supreme Court decision, though, currently would require the measure to receive a two-thirds majority to pass, stacking the odds against the Chargers. Cole tweets the team’s options could be remaining in Mission Valley or sharing a stadium with the Rams in Inglewood, adding the team prefers neither option. The NFL reporter said Tuesday the Chargers were looking at an Eastern Los Angeles site as well.

Cole’s Latest: Bolts, Von, Supplemental Draft

July 5th, 2016 at 1:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

The California State Supreme Court’s decision last week to review a lower court’s ruling that stated merely a simple majority was necessary to approve a downtown San Diego stadium measure rather than the traditional two-thirds majority dealt a blow to the Chargers‘ aspirations in their city. Enough so that the franchise is once again considering Los Angeles, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report notes (video link).

With the team not expecting a two-thirds majority to approve public funds to be put toward a new Chargers downtown stadium, they are reconsidering the league’s Los Angeles offer. But they’re not immediately keen on sharing a stadium with the Rams in Inglewood. Rather, the Chargers are revisiting the City of Industry site — a 600-acre locale eventually discarded in favor of the Inglewood and Carson projects during the three-pronged Los Angeles pursuit — due to its Eastern Los Angeles County location (22 miles from downtown L.A.) being viewed within the organization as a better way to attract fans from Orange County and the Inland Empire region of L.A., Cole reports.

The Chargers do not believe their downtown San Diego stadium measure can pass at a 66.6% requirement and do not want to continue playing at the Mission Valley site that’s been their home since initially moving from Los Angeles in 1961. They reached a deal in principle to join the Rams in Inglewood but used that as leverage against San Diego earlier this year. Those prospects are fleeting right now, however, bringing the dormant Chargers-to-L.A. talk back to the forefront.

Here’s more from Cole, beginning with the latest coming out of Denver.

The Broncos could soon present Von Miller with a new offer, Cole hears (video link), after they reached out to him last week. But if that offer does not contain $60MM in guaranteed money, Miller will reportedly not sign. Denver has until July 15 to reach a deal with Miller and hopes to avoid the prospect of the All-Pro linebacker sitting out the season. Although such a prospect seems extreme considering how much Miller would stand to lose by doing so, Cole notes that is still his position if the sides cannot agree on terms.
NFL GMs who spoke to Cole (video link) expect Purdue defensive tackle Ra’Zahn Howard to be selected in the supplemental draft, which is set for July 14. However, two GMs who discussed these prospects with Cole do not anticipate any of the other five players whose names are in the supplemental pool to be taken. Howard, though, is expected to be chosen between the fifth and seventh round, with the drafting team forfeiting that pick in the 2017 draft by doing so.

Latest On Chargers’ Stadium Effort

June 30th, 2016 at 5:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

The California State Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Chargers’ chances of seeing a new stadium built in San Diego, and the team’s future is uncertain as a result.

California’s high court temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that would have made it much easier to pass the team-backed initiative that would raise hotel taxes to generate public funds toward a new stadium, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Instead of the measure needing a simple majority to pass in the November election, a two-thirds majority of voters will need to vote in favor of it.

Considering Acee estimates around 60% of voters are opposed to using public funds to build a new stadium, the measure receiving 66.6% of the vote now looks unrealistic. The Chargers figured this was coming, per Acee, but Wednesday night’s confirmation provides an air of finality to the lofty requirement.

This week’s ruling did not mean the two-thirds threshold will be locked in, with the court only agreeing to review the appellate court’s March ruling. A review does mean the appellate court’s earlier decision is no longer the law, however. Even if the simple majority ruling is overturned or upheld, it will further complicate matters by dragging on past the November elections, David Garrick of the Union-Tribune writes.

A decision either way will almost certainly will not happen until at least 2017. Voters will now vote on the measure in November without knowing what will be required for it to pass, further clouding the Chargers’ status.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tabs the 66.6% majority requirement as virtually impossible for the stadium measure to pass, so he lays out six options for the Bolts going forward. Moving to Los Angeles or playing out their lease at Qualcomm stadium loom as the top two choices, Florio writes. The Chargers’ lease at their current 49-year-old stadium runs through 2020, but repairs and upgrades are likely to be required to make this a tenable choice. After all, the stadium’s state served as a driving force behind the Bolts’ push for joining up with the Raiders on the teams’ Carson project.

The Chargers in January agreed in principle to join the Rams in Los Angeles and have until Jan. 15, 2017 to decide. Of course, Dean Spanos then declared the team would play in San Diego this season, and the team and the city began engaging in productive talks soon after.

The franchise remains conflicted about joining Stan Kroenke‘s Rams in Inglewood, with Florio pointing out efforts are ongoing to determine the dollars and cents of the Chargers being the second team in Los Angeles.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Rumors: Chargers, Miller, Bailey, Ward

June 11th, 2016 at 2:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers received the necessary 110,000+ votes to place their citizens’ initiative measure on the November ballot for the purposes of unlocking funds for a downtown stadium, Dan McSwain of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

“Most signature gathering efforts of this kind take six full months. We had just six weeks to complete our work,” Chargers chairman Dean Spanos said. “The fact that we were able to collect more than 110,000 signatures in that short period of time demonstrates tremendous support in our community for a new, combined stadium-convention center expansion downtown.”

The initiative calls for $650MM in funds from unspecified sources, which likely means money from the Chargers, fans, personal seat licenses and the NFL, per McSwain. But opponents of the initiative are formulating plans. Some are taking the stance of last year’s stadium task force that preferred to keep the Chargers at nearby Mission Valley as opposed to downtown.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer endorsed that site last year prior to the Chargers’ Carson bid being rejected. But he hasn’t come out in favor of either site recently and distanced himself from the activist group that’s attempting to prevent the Chargers-supported downtown stadium from coming to fruition.

The next step in this process is the San Diego registrar’s office determining if 66,447 of those aforementioned signatures are valid.

Here’s the latest from teams whose statuses in their current cities are a bit more entrenched.

Although Von Miller‘s proposed six-year, $114.5MM deal would bring $58.5MM by Year 3 should the Broncos pick up his third-season option a few days after the 2018 league year begins, the All-Pro pass-rusher’s stance remains firm: he wants $60MM fully guaranteed at signing, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. This protects Miller in the same way Ndamukong Suh‘s $59.5MM in full guarantees did. Denver offered $38.5MM, with an additional $1.3MM in workout bonuses, to its franchise-tagged performer at signing. That falls well short of Suh’s total, although every NFL contract has done so, with Aaron Rodgers‘ failing to exceed $45MM in at-signing guarantees. The Broncos’ offer seems to follow the blueprint the Chiefs laid out with Justin Houston last summer, with the tagged edge defender receiving $32.5MM guaranteed up front, with the carrot of $52.5MM in the first three seasons if the Chiefs trigger his Year 3 option on the third day of the 2017 league year.
Some of these developments — like the Broncos leaking his turning down the offer — have been viewed as personal affronts for 27-year-old reigning Super Bowl MVP, Renck writes. Look no further than Miller cropping GM John Elway out of an Instagram photo (via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, on Twitter) that previously featured Miller, Elway DeMarcus Ware, Peyton Manning and Gary Kubiak at the White House. Renck suggests Miller remove himself from the proceedings to avoid further embitterment toward the franchise he will almost certainly still play for in 2016. The sides have until July 15 to negotiate a long-term deal before Miller is forced to play for $14.26MM this season.
Clearing waivers on Wednesday, Stedman Bailey has returned to the Rams in a non-playing role for now, being placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. The would-be fourth-year wideout appreciates the organization keeping him around despite not being medically cleared to play after being shot twice in November. “I still get a chance to work out with the team and just pretty much sit around with all the meetings and learn what it’s like to be a coach. So, it’s kind of just looking at the game from a different angle, but I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Bailey said, via Andie Hagemann of NFL.com.
Jimmie Ward has transformed from strong safety to slot cornerback to someone with a strong chance of starting at corner to begin 2016. The former first-round safety earned the bulk of the first-team reps for the 49ers at corner opposite Tramaine Brock at minicamp, Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com reports. Ward rated as a top-40 Pro Football Focus corner last season for his work in the slot. He of the infamous Iron Bowl field goal return in 2013, Chris Davis took most of the reps at slot corner at San Francisco’s minicamp.

AFC Notes: Jets QBs, Raiders, Vegas, Chargers

June 10th, 2016 at 7:02pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

With seemingly no progress being made in talks between the Jets and free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com told Toucher and Rich of CBS Boston (video link via CSNNE.com) that he could envision Gang Green setting a deadline for the 33-year-old to sign. If the Jets and Fitzpatrick aren’t able to reach an agreement this summer, the team believes it would be able to “tread water” with Geno Smith under center, says Breer. The Jets were prepared to go into last season with Smith as their starter before then-teammate IK Enemkpali broke his jaw with a punch, thereby leading to the Fitzpatrick era. Notably, Fitzpatrick’s output in 2015 was vastly superior to Smith’s when he was the Jets’ starter the previous two seasons.

In other AFC news…

The Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee will meet June 23 to endorse the construction of a stadium that would house the Raiders and UNLV, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). It remains up in the air whether the state of Nevada can raise the projected $750MM needed to build the stadium, but if it does, the Raiders will seek the NFL’s approval to relocate, says Cole.
San Diego voters cut three candidates for City Attorney this week, which seems to bode poorly for the Chargers’ plans for a $1.15 billion downtown stadium and convention center, writes Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The two candidates who advanced, Republican Robert Hickey and Democrat Mara Elliott, are on record as saying the Chargers’ plan will need two-thirds voter approval. Bryan Pease, who received the fewest votes and is now out of the running, thought the stadium could come to fruition with a 50 percent plus one vote. In regards to the city helping fund a stadium, Elliott said, “I’d rather see the money go toward something that benefits the public. Public safety, roads, our infrastructure is crumbling. We’ve got water issues in the City of San Diego. So in my opinion, there are more critical concerns for San Diegans than there is building a private Chargers stadium.” The Chargers have until Jan. 15, 2017, to join the Rams in Los Angeles, so it stands to reason that they’ll depart by then if a stadium deal isn’t reached.
Earlier this evening, we checked in on the latest Broncos rumors.

Extra Points: Boldin, Hawk, Mathis, Chargers

June 2nd, 2016 at 8:50pm CST by Dallas Robinson

When I ranked Anquan Boldin as the second-best offensive free agent left on the market, I noted that even as he ages, the veteran receiver continues to maintain consistent production, managing at least 65 receptions in each of the past five seasons, and averaging nearly 1,000 yards and five scores during that period. So why is he still unsigned? Albert Breer of the TheMMQB.com wanted an answer to that question, and asked a scouting director for a response. The executive’s position on Boldin? “He’s old and can’t run.”

With that blunt answer out of the way, let’s take a look at several more notes from around the league…

Like Boldin, A.J. Hawk is another veteran that remains unsigned, but he tells Jim Owcazrski of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s staying in shape and hoping for an interested team to contact him later in the summer. While he allowed that such a phone call might not come until late in camp or even after the start of the regular season (when veteran salaries are no longer guaranteed), Hawk maintained that he has not yet set a timetable for retirement.
Robert Mathis hasn’t yet reached free agency like Boldin and Hawk, but the edge rusher is set hit the open market at season’s end. As Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star writes, the Colts haven’t shown any proclivity for hanging on to household names simply for the fanfare, so Mathis might be playing his last season with the club. Could retirement be an option? “I’ll tally it up at the end of the season,” said Mathis. “If I feel I should walk away, then that’s what I should do. But if not, I’m gonna keep playing.”
The Chargers‘ decision on whether or not to stay in San Diego could percolate through the end of the 2016 regular season, sources tell Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), who outlines some of the potential legal challenges that could stifle the team’s options. The decision can’t wait for too long, as the Chargers’ to move to Los Angeles expires on January 15, 2017.
ESPN.com’s NFL writers each listed a veteran who could be on the roster bubble, and some surprising names made the list, including Barkevious Mingo, Justin Hunter, Marquess Wilson, and Matt Elam.

Latest On Chargers’ Stadium Pursuit

May 31st, 2016 at 5:19pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

In April, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell endorsed the idea of keeping the Chargers in San Diego and said the Super Bowl will return to the city if an initiative for a downtown stadium goes through. However, the prospect of hosting a Super Bowl isn’t nearly as enticing as it sounds and might not be much of an incentive to the city of San Diego, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link).

It costs a community anywhere from $50MM to $60MM in public and private funds to land a Super Bowl, a source told Cole, who adds that San Diego doesn’t have that type of money to bid on the game once – let alone on a regular basis. Thus, dangling the carrot of hosting the Super Bowl in front of the city won’t necessarily galvanize it to build a stadium, which would put the Chargers in further jeopardy of relocating after the upcoming season.

The Chargers, of course, could have bolted (no pun intended) with the Rams for Los Angeles during the winter, but they chose to give San Diego one more shot at a stadium agreement. The clock on a deal is ticking, though, as the Chargers’ chance to head to LA will expire on Jan. 15, 2017.

The Goodell-led NFL is willing to chip in $300MM ($100MM more than its usual policy) to help San Diego construct a stadium, and the Chargers’ plan calls for a combined $650MM to come from the team and the league, with an additional $350MM stemming from a 4 percent hike in the local hotel tax. That would add up to $1 billion, the amount necessary to build the stadium, though it remains to be seen if the city is receptive to the idea.

AFC West Notes: Fisher, Aldon, San Diego, Broncos

April 23rd, 2016 at 5:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

With fifth-year option decisions due Tuesday, May 3, the Chiefs are procrastinating — at least publicly — on their choice on whether or not to pick up Eric Fisher‘s.

“I know a lot of guys have been exercising these options on players right now,” Chiefs GM John Dorsey said (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). “I do things a little bit different. I think what I do is, I’m, at times, compartmentalizing a little bit too much. So really, the task at hand, for me, is to make sure we nail this draft. And I think when we get to Monday, we’ll deal with Monday.”

Fisher would be due a guaranteed-against-injury $11.9MM in 2017 if the Chiefs pick up their left tackle’s option. The No. 1 overall pick in 2013, Fisher improved last season after an unremarkable initial two years. But at $11.9MM, he’d stand to be the fourth-highest-paid tackle in 2017 — behind only Tyron Smith, Trent Williams and Anthony Castonzo. And by waiting until the draft is over, the Chiefs appear to be keeping their options open regarding their blind-side protector’s future, considering he hasn’t yet shown himself worthy of a cornerstone-type contract similar to the ones the aforementioned players received.

Kansas City has already participated in extension talks with Fisher in a likely effort to bring that prospective $11.9MM cap number down for a franchise that doesn’t look to have much cap space come next year, with most of its key players locked in for the next two seasons.

Here’s the latest from the AFC West.

Speaking at a stadium rally in San Diego on Saturday, Roger Goodell endorsed keeping the Chargers in the city and said that if the downtown stadium initiative goes through, the Super Bowl will return to San Diego. “I said it. I mean it. The Chargers belong in San Diego,” the commissioner said (via Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune, on Twitter). The Super Bowl last came to the city in 2003, with Qualcomm Stadium — now considered one of the worst in the game — hosting Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and Dean Spanos also spoke in support of the $1.8 billion stadium/convention center project, although as Kevin Acee of the Union-Tribune points out, the words “convention center” weren’t spoken by any of the guest speakers at the signature-collecting showcase that drew around 4,000. “I mean, dadgumit. … It just makes sense right? I hope I’m still around to play in it. Let’s get it done together,” said Rivers, who wasn’t enthusiastic about relocating to Los Angeles when the subject surfaced last year.
Aldon Smith‘s trial is set to begin May 2, Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com reports. The recently re-signed Raiders edge presence faces three charges from the August 2015 incident that led to his release from the 49ers — DUI with a prior conviction, hit and run and vandalism under $400 — according to Bair. Smith remains suspended for a substance-abuse policy violation and can’t return to aid the Raiders on Sundays until November, but the sixth-year veteran must be reinstated by Goodell. That hasn’t been a smooth process for recent offenders.
Free agent linebacker Nick Moody remains on track to testify at Smith’s trial despite a judge issuing a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear in a Florida court to confirm this, Florio reports. Moody now insists his failure to appear in court Friday stemmed from a miscommunication. Moody spent two years with the 49ers before playing in three games with the Seahawks in 2015.
The Raiders are showing “serious interest” in Utah interior lineman Siaosi Aiono, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
The Broncos spent plenty of time trying to re-sign Brock Osweiler and Malik Jackson, and the defending champions added two tackles expected to start during the offseason. But they released Owen Daniels and didn’t make an attempt to bring back Vernon Davis, who signed with Washington. This could be due to the team’s high hopes for second-year tight end Jeff Heuerman, who missed his rookie slate with a torn ACL. “We expect (Heuerman) to step in and be a force,” GM John Elway told media, including Troy Renck of the Denver Post. “We’re counting on (Heuerman) big time,” Gary Kubiak said. “We feel like Jeff can be a total tight end. He’s not just a receiver. We think he has the ability to do both (catch and block).” A former third-round pick, Heuerman wasn’t known for his receiving chops at Ohio State. The 6-foot-5 tight end hauled in 792 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in four years, playing extensively as a junior and senior. Virgil Green is the only experienced tight end on the roster, so it may behoove the team to add some depth at this spot.

AFC West Notes: Broncos, Chargers, Charles

April 16th, 2016 at 4:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Unlike C.J. Anderson, the Broncos placed a second-round tender on restricted free agent Brandon Marshall. The emerging inside linebacker has not yet signed the $2.55MM tender and is unsure he’ll attend the Broncos’ offseason workouts that begin Monday, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports.

The fifth-year ‘backer doesn’t have a lot of leverage in this case, and his situation is similar to Tashaun Gipson‘s with the Browns last year. After June 15, the Broncos can withdraw the tender and pay Marshall 110% of his 2015 salary, which was $585K. The Broncos currently carry just more than $8.2MM worth of cap space.

With the champions preoccupied in negotiating an extension for confirmed workout-skipper Von Miller and making a potential deal for a starting quarterback, it’s unlikely Marshall sees a long-term contract offer before that mid-June date. Gipson reported to the Browns before his former team could withdraw that tender last June.

Here are some notes from some of the league’s western contingent, beginning with another starter from the Super Bowl champions’ No. 1 defense.

The Broncos have also yet to make a decision regarding Sylvester Williams‘ fifth-year option and have until May 2 to do so. “No, I haven’t heard anything about it — still waiting,” the fourth-year defensive tackle told Renck. “Either way this will be my best year yet!” Given the starting nose job after Denver elected not to retain Terrance Knighton, Williams played better in 2015 than he did in ’14, grading out as a middle-of-the-pack performer, according to Pro Football Focus. It would cost the Broncos $6.7MM to pick up Williams’ option, and as of now, no pure 3-4 nose is set to earn close to that amount in 2017. Brandon Mebane‘s $4.5MM salary with the Chargers is the highest at this spot currently on a team’s 2017 projected books. Williams will turn 28 this season, but significant cap relief stands to come the Broncos’ way after this season — no team has more projected space than Denver’s $80MM+ in 2017 — so the team could probably manage Williams’ option should it choose to exercise it now.
San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer wrote a letter to the Chargers asking some difficult questions centering around the team’s downtown stadium proposal, Dan McSwain of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Faulconer told the newspaper he sent the letter, on which the Chargers declined to comment, after meeting with members of the hotel industry. One of the centerpieces to the Chargers’ stadium proposal involves a hotel tax hike. Much of the mayor’s queries also involved the design of the stadium/convention center project, McSwain reports.
Rehabbing from his second torn ACL in five years, Jamaal Charles carries about the only contract that the Chiefs can shed in the next two years that will save them big money. Kansas City extending both Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware also secures the team’s backups who filled in for Charles last season, and Adam Teicher of ESPN.com wonders if now is the best time to trade the 29-year-old Charles. Teicher argues the two-time All-Pro’s value will never be higher going forward, with the dynamic ball-carrier turning 30 in December, and the fact the Chiefs don’t have a third-round pick this year in light of the Jeremy Maclin tampering penalties makes a trade worth discussing. Possessing close to the least amount of cap space currently and, along with scant projected space in 2017, the Chiefs are committed to most of their high-priced talent for the next two years. But Charles has two nonguaranteed years left — at $5.3MM and $7MM, respectively.

AFC Notes: Kaepernick, Chargers, Ferguson, Fins

April 9th, 2016 at 3:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos‘ precise pursuit of Colin Kaepernick doesn’t have an expiration date, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports, with the employment of Mark Sanchez going on a month and some other trade targets — like Mike Glennon, Brian Hoyer and Josh McCown — populating No. 2 spots on various depth charts.

Both Hoyer and McCown figure to be much easier to land than Kaepernick.

Sanchez has already assimilated quickly with his new team in taking a cast of receivers to Mission Viejo, Calif., for informal workouts, just as he did with the Jets and Eagles in recent years. Sanchez’s workouts were more star-studded than Peyton Manning‘s last Duke summit, with both Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders showing up. Of course, Thomas was skipping official and Manning-suggested workouts last year due to being franchise-tagged. But Sanchez assembling both starters, along with a cadre of contributors, is somewhat impressive still.

At some point during the spring, though, the Broncos and 49ers would need to decide if this will work since Kaepernick will have to learn a new system regardless of where he plays this season. The 28-year-old passer didn’t have a good year in 2015, and the longer this drags out, the harder it will be to take command of a new offense, whether it’s in San Francisco or Denver.

The Chargers are meeting with another citizens initiative Monday to potentially help streamline their proposal for a downtown stadium, Lori Weisberg of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. This group’s measure would call for a 15.5% hotel tax hike — as opposed to the other initiative’s 16.5% bump — but also bars public funds from being used to finance this long-sought-after venture.
D’Brickashaw Ferguson composed a letter thanking Jets fans for their support during his 10-year career. The 32-year-old tackle does not sound like he’ll be backtracking on this decision.
The Dolphins are interested in Boise State offensive lineman Rees Odhiambo as a second- or third-day selection, James Walker of ESPN.com tweets. Odhiambo projects as a guard, a position at which the Dolphins are the weakest up front. Odhiambo has also been connected to the Colts, Buccaneers, Vikings and Seahawks in the form of pre-draft visits and workouts.

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