San Diego Chargers: To Rebuild or Not

The San Diego Chargers have a great quarterback, but not enough team to win a championship. Go all-in on rebuilding now, before its too late.

We’re tackling each team in the league, traveling alphabetically to debate their biggest offseason issues. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

TODD:

The San Diego Chargers remain in San Diego for at least one more offseason. Though they aren’t moving across the country like the Rams, or even moving at all to this point, it still feels like the Charger franchise is in a great deal of flux.

Its rookie running back didn’t quite hit last season; the skill players on offense left Philip Rivers with too much on his shoulders. The offensive line didn’t hold up. And that was the good unit on the team! The defense and special teams were simply horrid, ranking 28th and 31st in the league respectively according to Football Outsiders.

The organization had a falling-out with Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle. He left in free agency. Perennially potential-filled tight end Ladarius Green did as well. However, overall, San Diego added more than it lost in March, though had to overpay for some pieces. Casey Heyward was the big piece for defense, with receiver Travis Benjamin coming into the offense to hopefully replace the production of the retired Malcom Floyd.

This team is really in between two courses of action because of Rivers. It is probably a team in need of a rebuild, with very young players at the skill positions on offense (outside of Antonio Gates) and an offensive line that is being completely refashioned. On defense, it simply doesn’t have enough pieces period. The secondary could be good, but the roster is lacking, especially up front.

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And yet, there sits Rivers, age 34, entering his 13th year in the NFL. You can’t rebuild a roster around him and expect him to wait. There was some inkling of trading Rivers if the Chargers had moved to Los Angeles for this season, but I don’t understand why they still wouldn’t make the move. Rivers has a cap hit of roughly $20 million each of the next four seasons. That figure is perfectly reasonable to a team on the precipice of winning with one hole on its roster at quarterback (assuming it can force the figure onto its own cap of course). Yet it also seems too much for the Chargers to pay out for a player who isn’t on the same course of advancement as the rest of his roster.

Even if San Diego doesn’t want to take one of the top quarterbacks with the third overall pick in the draft, it could take its best player available, grab a different quarterback later and not trade Rivers until next year. The return haul will surely be immense no matter when the Chargers deal him.

It’s scary to move away from a franchise quarterback, but shouldn’t it be scarier to face a position where the team matures just at the time Rivers is ready to retire? They would get nothing for him, and then where do the Chargers turn?

DAN:

To rebuild or not to rebuild. No fan wants to consider the proposition, but all NFL teams must rebuild at some point. This means a season or so of below average win totals and many growing pains. Fortunately for Chargers’ fans, they already suffered through a horrid year, so any actual rebuilding comes as a welcome change of direction. At least its being acknowledged.

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San Diego is rebuilding, there’s no way around it. I’m a proponent of going all-in when it comes to replacing veterans and expensive players with young, hungry and less expensive talent. We’ve witnessed far too often teams that walk the tight rope between rebuilding or reloading around one franchise player. The Colts, for example, attempted to reload around Andrew Luck from the very beginning, instead of rebuilding around him with the departure of Peyton Manning. This proved very successful in year two, but then a complete disaster last season. Now the Colts are in flux, with a superstar player who’s prime years may go to waste.

That’s the key to San Diego’s decision. Philip Rivers has several solid seasons of football left in his career. Yet I don’t think the Chargers can do enough to build a winning team for him to wield. They can be a good team, but a champion needs more than one or two star players. Considering Rivers’ cap hit, the Chargers can definitely get more value in dealing him, than trying to build around him. That $20 million can go to multiple pieces next off-season. Yet San Diego needs to be patient, because unless they feel one of the quarterbacks in this year’s NFL Draft is a slam dunk, they should pass.

The Chargers can draft a superstar running back, a superstar defensive player, a superstar offensive lineman, or a potentially good quarterback. That is my current draft outlook for this team. Let Rivers increase his stock this season and draft other franchise altering players to learn from his leadership. Make the Chargers and the city of San Diego a desirable free agent destination for next off season, because while having a great quarterback is nice, winning is better.

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The Broncos proved you can win it all with a game manager under center. I do not believe this is an outlier. They won with defense and a running game. The Chargers proved you can lose a lot with a great quarterback. Get as much as you can for him now and go all-in with the rebuild.