Los Angeles Chargers: 3 Players team must re-sign in 2018 offseason
By Derek Snyder
2. Antonio Gates
As many people predicted, 2017 was the season where Hunter Henry took the reigns from Antonio Gates. The future Hall-of-Fame tight end came into the year knowing what his role was going to be, but as we move into the 2018 offseason, his services in Los Angeles may be coming to an end.
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I don’t believe the 37-year old will call it quits because there are many teams who would be willing to sign him to a one-year-deal before the season starts; however, he will definitely come at a cost. Needless to say, I believe it’s one the Chargers should be willing to pay.
As much as we all enjoyed watching Henry finish third on the team in receiving yards, Gates still provides an extremely dangerous weapon in the red zone. Not to mention, if someone other than Philip Rivers starts at quarterback for the Chargers in 2018, having Gates a part of the offense is even more crucial.
Young quarterbacks need safe and reliable options underneath, which could sway the decision for the Bolts front-office of whether to re-sign their veteran tight end or not.
At the end of the day, I believe there’s going to be one team who overbids for Gates’ services in 2018 and if that happens, the Chargers need to let him walk. However, if his price hasn’t gone through the roof, bringing Gates back is a no-brainer.