The 08 Theory is Viable

BrooksMustGo · 02-17-2004, 08:04 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ots/index.html

Another bit of pre-draft conventional wisdom that has surfaced quickly is that the Chargers are again looking to deal out of the No. 1 spot for the same reason they shipped the rights to the Michael Vick pick to Atlanta three years ago: The Ghost of Ryan Leaf.

Six years have gone by since the Leaf debacle (he was the No. 2 pick in 1998), and the theory holds that San Diego still can't bring itself to pull the trigger on another franchise quarterback, who would be Manning in this case. Add in the fact that it's still widely believed that the Alex Spanos family doesn't want to shell out the bucks that it would take to land a quarterback at No. 1.

The top of the draft is high-stakes poker, and nobody's going to show all their cards more than two months out. But for what it's worth, Chargers general manager A.J. Smith shoots down the anybody-but-a-quarterback-at-No. 1 scenario.

"I've heard that for a long, long time,'' Smith said this week. "I wasn't even here during the Leaf era. Our ownership was. But I can tell you this, we are open-minded to anything, whether it's using the first selection on a quarterback or getting one in free agency. If it's a first-spot quarterback, so be it. The past will not have an impact on the pick.''

That said, Smith went on to make it rather clear that the Chargers would love to stay involved in the pursuit of Mark Brunell, should the Jacksonville veteran quarterback wind up being released by the Jaguars before March 1.

Smith said the Jaguars asked all teams that were interested in Brunell to make an opening trade offer in order to stay involved in the process. "That's the way they wanted to approach it,'' Smith said. "Miami made an offer but was told it was not acceptable. We chose not to. We decided to wait and see if we have a chance in free agency to get him. Unless we had permission to first explore everything involved, we weren't going to make an offer.''

Smith said he believes Washington's offer for Brunell is currently a third-round pick, but that the Redskins are willing to improve it to a second-rounder. Miami doesn't have a second-round pick, so its offer is thought to have been a No. 3. Smith is skeptical that the Jaguars will be willing to pay Brunell the $2 million bonus they owe him March 1, in order to retain the ability to trade him once the trading period opens March 3.

"That's the avenue we're looking at, exploring our options at quarterback in free agency,'' Smith said. "We still think we have a chance to get [Brunell] if he's released. But right now we don't know what's going on with Washington and Jacksonville because we're not involved.''

I think Joe Gibbs gets Brunnell if that's who he wants.

Brunnell to Washington is going to leave San Diego in the lurch. At that point, Kurt Warner is going to be in play. With Kelly Holcomb recovering from shoulder surgery, I don't see Tim Couch going anywhere. I can't see the Chargers taking a shot on Kordell Stewart either. Drew Henson is appealling, but I don't think the Chargers have any more time to let him develop than they would for Eli.

Brunnell to Washington instantly puts Schottenheimer on the hot seat and puts San Diego under the gun to resolve their QB issue. I think the only reasonable move for us is to float the Brooks to the Chargers possibility during the combine this week. However, we need to play our cards close so as not to give the impression that we want to dump Brooks, but that we'd be interested in a trade that nets Eli for us. We need to let the word out and offer the Chargers a sort of lifeline. With Landanian, Brooks will be an average sort of QB and probably gets the Chargers back to .500 and save Marty's job. The fans in San Diego will make the same rationalizations that Saints fans have been making for Brooks for 3-4 years and by that time, Eli has us in the Superbowl.

02-17-2004, 08:04 PM	#1
BrooksMustGo 1000 Posts + Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,762	The 08 Theory is Viable http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ots/index.html Another bit of pre-draft conventional wisdom that has surfaced quickly is that the Chargers are again looking to deal out of the No. 1 spot for the same reason they shipped the rights to the Michael Vick pick to Atlanta three years ago: The Ghost of Ryan Leaf. Six years have gone by since the Leaf debacle (he was the No. 2 pick in 1998), and the theory holds that San Diego still can't bring itself to pull the trigger on another franchise quarterback, who would be Manning in this case. Add in the fact that it's still widely believed that the Alex Spanos family doesn't want to shell out the bucks that it would take to land a quarterback at No. 1. The top of the draft is high-stakes poker, and nobody's going to show all their cards more than two months out. But for what it's worth, Chargers general manager A.J. Smith shoots down the anybody-but-a-quarterback-at-No. 1 scenario. "I've heard that for a long, long time,'' Smith said this week. "I wasn't even here during the Leaf era. Our ownership was. But I can tell you this, we are open-minded to anything, whether it's using the first selection on a quarterback or getting one in free agency. If it's a first-spot quarterback, so be it. The past will not have an impact on the pick.'' That said, Smith went on to make it rather clear that the Chargers would love to stay involved in the pursuit of Mark Brunell, should the Jacksonville veteran quarterback wind up being released by the Jaguars before March 1. Smith said the Jaguars asked all teams that were interested in Brunell to make an opening trade offer in order to stay involved in the process. "That's the way they wanted to approach it,'' Smith said. "Miami made an offer but was told it was not acceptable. We chose not to. We decided to wait and see if we have a chance in free agency to get him. Unless we had permission to first explore everything involved, we weren't going to make an offer.'' Smith said he believes Washington's offer for Brunell is currently a third-round pick, but that the Redskins are willing to improve it to a second-rounder. Miami doesn't have a second-round pick, so its offer is thought to have been a No. 3. Smith is skeptical that the Jaguars will be willing to pay Brunell the $2 million bonus they owe him March 1, in order to retain the ability to trade him once the trading period opens March 3. "That's the avenue we're looking at, exploring our options at quarterback in free agency,'' Smith said. "We still think we have a chance to get [Brunell] if he's released. But right now we don't know what's going on with Washington and Jacksonville because we're not involved.'' I think Joe Gibbs gets Brunnell if that's who he wants. Brunnell to Washington is going to leave San Diego in the lurch. At that point, Kurt Warner is going to be in play. With Kelly Holcomb recovering from shoulder surgery, I don't see Tim Couch going anywhere. I can't see the Chargers taking a shot on Kordell Stewart either. Drew Henson is appealling, but I don't think the Chargers have any more time to let him develop than they would for Eli. Brunnell to Washington instantly puts Schottenheimer on the hot seat and puts San Diego under the gun to resolve their QB issue. I think the only reasonable move for us is to float the Brooks to the Chargers possibility during the combine this week. However, we need to play our cards close so as not to give the impression that we want to dump Brooks, but that we'd be interested in a trade that nets Eli for us. We need to let the word out and offer the Chargers a sort of lifeline. With Landanian, Brooks will be an average sort of QB and probably gets the Chargers back to .500 and save Marty's job. The fans in San Diego will make the same rationalizations that Saints fans have been making for Brooks for 3-4 years and by that time, Eli has us in the Superbowl.