A year ago, the San Diego Chargers made no attempt to hide the fact that they were eager to dump Drew Brees as their starting quarterback. Team officials said publicly that they wanted to upgrade at the position. If Brees didn't like it, well, too bad. The club obtained Philip Rivers in a draft-day trade and left open the possibility, even after he missed much of training camp because of a contract dispute, of him beginning his rookie season as the starter.
Brees responded by holding on to the job and being one of the league's most valuable players this past season. He kept Rivers on the bench, reached the Pro Bowl and led the Chargers to 12 regular-season victories and the AFC West title.
But the tough love continues.
The Chargers didn't just announce Thursday that they were, as expected, slapping their franchise-player tag on Brees to limit his mobility on the unrestricted free agent market beginning next month. General Manager A.J. Smith said at a news conference that the team has no intention of negotiating a long-term contract with Brees this offseason, and that Coach Marty Schottenheimer plans to have an "open competition" in training camp for next season's starting quarterback job.
Thanks for the Pro Bowl season, indeed.
"Drew will be listed as number one on the depth chart [but there will be] open competition," Smith said. "That's Coach Schottenheimer talking, not me. That's his philosophy: The best football players are going out there, and he will determine who that is. I understand where he's coming from. Last year is over. The best players play."
Smith made it clear that the Chargers intend to have Brees play next season on the one-year, $8.078 million contract that comes with the franchise tag for a quarterback. They won't commit to Brees for the long haul by signing him to a multi-year contract with a hefty signing bonus.
This way, the Chargers can hedge their bets for another year, make sure that Brees's highly successful 2004 season wasn't an aberration and then, perhaps, pick either Brees or Rivers a year from now and get what they can get for the other. Brees has expressed a preference to negotiate a long-term contract now.
"It's clear that Drew would like to be here long term, and stay here for a long time," Smith said. "That's clear. Our position is, we're not doing a long-term deal right now. Could it be a problem? It could be. I'm just giving our position."
Brees has the right to negotiate with other teams once the free agent market opens on March 2 and he can, if he chooses, sign an offer sheet with another club. The Chargers would have the right to retain Brees by matching the offer sheet. They also would have the right to receive two first-round draft choices from Brees's new team as compensation if they allow him to depart. Smith said he already has informed Brees's agent, Tom Condon, that the Chargers won't settle for less in compensation, as some clubs have done in the past with franchise players to facilitate trades.
The Chargers could have kept Brees off the free agent market altogether by making him their exclusive franchise player, which would have prohibited him from negotiating with other teams. But such a designation would have meant that Brees's $8.078 million salary for next season -- the current average of the salaries of the league's five highest-paid quarterbacks -- could have been adjusted upward later in the offseason to reflect upcoming signings. This way, the figure is locked in.
Any offer sheet that Brees would sign with another team undoubtedly would be a long-term contract with a sizable signing bonus. But Smith said that just because the Chargers are unwilling to negotiate such a deal with Brees themselves doesn't necessarily mean that they would decline to match an offer sheet and allow Brees to leave if he works out a long-term contract with another club.
"We're planning on him being here," Smith said. "If there's another situation to look at, we'll turn around and look at it . . . . I have no idea what's going to unfold. If an offer [sheet] comes, I would just have to study the thing and evaluate it."
Brees is vacationing in Australia and is scheduled to return to the country in about two weeks. Things could get very interesting indeed when he returns and the free agent market opens. Teams aren't willing to surrender two first-round draft picks for a player very often. But it isn't very often that a quarterback coming off a season in which he threw for 3,159 yards and 27 touchdowns, with only seven interceptions, is available. Brees was the NFL's third-rated passer this past season, behind only Peyton Manning and Daunte Culpepper.
It's clear that the Chargers still adore Rivers, and Smith declined to speculate on Brees's long-range future with the organization.
"I'm really just looking at '05," the general manager said. "We expect him to be here as our quarterback."
The Chargers were perhaps the league's most surprising success story this past season, even with their loss at home to the New York Jets in a first-round AFC playoff game, and Smith acknowledged that pulling off an encore performance next season won't be easy.
"The bar is set very high now for the Chargers," he said. " . . . We've arrived. Now how do you stay there? That's the trick . . . . We just move forward the way we want to. We just do the things we think are right." . . .
Six players have been given their teams' franchise-player tags -- Brees, Cincinnati tailback Rudi Johnson, St. Louis left tackle Orlando Pace, Philadelphia defensive tackle Corey Simon and defensive ends Darren Howard of New Orleans and John Abraham of the Jets. It appears that about a half-dozen more clubs will use the designation before Tuesday's deadline.
Bruschi's Football Future Unclear
New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi could be released from Massachusetts General Hospital as soon as today, according to the team. The Patriots confirmed late Thursday that Bruschi, 31, suffered a mild stroke Wednesday.
His football future likely will be determined in consultations with his doctors in the coming weeks, but the early indications were that the Patriots and others around the league were hopeful that Bruschi will be able to play again.
Bruschi was taken to the hospital Wednesday by ambulance, complaining of headaches and reportedly suffering from blurred vision and partial paralysis. But his vision reportedly has improved and the paralysis was only temporary.
"It has been determined that these symptoms were the results of a mild stroke," Patriots spokesman Stacey James said. "Tedy is in good condition and, as always, his spirits are high. He is walking and talking normally and stressed that he would like to thank everyone for keeping him and his family in their thoughts and prayers."
Bruschi has been an integral part of the Patriots' defense while the club has won three of the past four Super Bowl titles. He played in his first Pro Bowl last Sunday in Hawaii after helping the Patriots to defeat the Eagles in the Super Bowl a week before in Jacksonville, Fla.
Grantham Picks Browns Over Dolphins
Houston Texans defensive line coach Todd Grantham was hired as the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator Thursday. He picked the Browns over the Miami Dolphins, who also wanted him as defensive coordinator.
So while Browns Coach Romeo Crennel landed his second choice, Dolphins Coach Nick Saban will have to move on to his third option. Both clubs first tried to hire New England defensive backs coach Eric Mangini. But Mangini rejected offers from both teams to remain with the Patriots as their defensive coordinator.
Saban has a reputation as being difficult to work for, and being spurned by Grantham could be particularly telling. Grantham formerly worked on Saban's staff at Michigan State . . . .
With Mangini and Grantham off the board, Saban could try to hire Patriots linebackers coach Dean Pees as his defensive coordinator. Pees formerly was Saban's defensive coordinator at Michigan State. He could try to hire one of the candidates he previously interviewed, Tampa Bay secondary coach Mike Tomlin or Detroit linebackers coach Richard Smith.
Or he could designate one of the coaches already on his staff, either Will Muschamp or George Edwards, as his defensive coordinator. Muschamp was Saban's defensive coordinator at LSU. Edwards spent one unsuccessful season as the Washington Redskins' defensive coordinator under former coach Steve Spurrier, getting a job for which he probably wasn't ready at the time because of Marvin Lewis's departure to become the Bengals' head coach . . . .
The Browns also hired Dave Atkins as running backs coach. He was on the Saints' staff the last five seasons . . . .
Dave Campo, the former Dallas Cowboys head coach who was the Browns' defensive coordinator the last two seasons, joined the Jacksonville Jaguars' staff as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. Campo had lined up the job weeks ago but was waiting to receive his official release from his Cleveland contract, which came this week . . . .
Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is perhaps the game's top defensive schemer. But it appears increasingly likely that Belichick will serve as his own offensive play-caller next season, whether he appoints a new offensive coordinator or not. Belichick has not yet named a replacement for Charlie Weis, who left following the season to become the head coach at Notre Dame . . . .
The Oakland Raiders restructured quarterback Kerry Collins's contract to get under the $85.5 million salary cap.
