San Diego Chargers: Brandon Flowers Re-Signing Impact

Coming into free agency, the San Diego Chargers secondary was pretty questionable with SS Marcus Gilchrist, CB Shareece Wright and CB Brandon Flowers all being free agency in the off-season.

Now after some contact negotiating, Brandon Flowers will stay a Charger for the next two seasons.

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Flowers, a first-year Chargers in 2014, was the best corner for the Bolts last season with 52 tackles, 10 passes defended and three interceptions.

Originally out of Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic Community High School, Flowers played high school basketball and track along with football, earning all-area and all-conference honors during his senior season. He was ranked as a three-star recruit by many recruiters and was taken into the arms of the Virginia Tech Hokies.

After taking back an interception 38 yards to the house in his freshman season, he suffered injuries and was forced to sit out the entire season.

During his sophomore and junior seasons, Flowers excelled splendidly, recording 15.5 tackles for loss, 35 passes defended, 3.5 sacks, eight interceptions and 137 tackles. Flowers’ 21 passes defended in 2006 ranked first in the ACC and third in the NCAA.

He also received recognition as All-American second-team and All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team honors in both his sophomore and junior years.

Oct 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers (26) and Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) collide as Charles crosses the goal line for a touchdown during the second quarter at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

It is no wonder why Flowers was selected in the second round, 35th overall in the 2010 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

In reality, Flower’s terrific ball skills and tackling abilities combined with his overall coverage skills caused his draft stock to soar.

After six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Flowers had amassed an average of 62.43 tackles, 15.1 passes defended and 2.8 interceptions per season before being signed by the Chargers in 2014.

With San Diego, Flowers had some of the best pass-defending statistics on the team. Unfortunately, Flowers signed just a one-year deal with SD and was a free agent in 2015.

Thankfully though, the Bolts shelled out the money and are keeping him around for another four seasons, paying him an estimated $36 million.

According to Matt Fitzgerald of Bleacher Report, “The Chargers confirmed the four-year deal on Monday, via their Twitter account.”

And while $ nine million per season is still a lot of money, I think it needed to be distributed to where the Bolts need it distributed.

Prior to Flowers signing, the Bolts were in a pretty vulnerable position with a secondary that overachieved last season (ranking fourth best passing defense in the NFL). And while Shareece Wright and Marcus Gilchrist are not a part of the Chargers for 2015 (Wright was just recently signed by the San Francisco 49ers), Flowers is a key to the Bolts success in 2015.

If the Chargers chose too, they can now re-sign Wright or go for a free agent or draft a corner.

For the time being though, the Bolts have a key piece to a potential Super Bowl puzzle. Flowers isn’t necessarily “Revis-status” with his shutdown abilities, but he can still be a consistent defensive threat for SD.

The signing itself was a steal according to some analysts and is a pretty fair deal from both sides. With the combination of Flowers and 2014 rookie sensation Jason Verrett, the Chargers secondary should continue its dominance in 2015.

Don’t mistake this sure-fire DB with the front man of The Killers. Instead of the sweet melody of “When You Were Young,” this Brandon Flowers will be inspiring the sounds of cheering Charger fans.

Next: Can Jeremiah Attaochu help the Chargers 3-4?

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