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Give and take Tomlinson got Chargers to make major concessions
Updated: Thursday August 23, 2001 12:23 PM
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Ever notice how in the 12 hours or so after the end of a protracted contract hold out, the post mortems are always the same? There's a fascination with who blinked first, who got the best of whom. It's human nature to want to declare a winner, a loser, and if anybody scored a clear-cut knockout. We can all save ourselves some time in the case of newly signed San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the team's first-round draft pick. It was the Chargers who gave most of the ground in order to get a deal done. To argue otherwise would be foolish, not to mention counter to the facts. Here are the essentials: Millions apart at the start of Tuesday, San Diego wound up coming to Tomlinson's demands on signing bonus ($10.5 million), total money in the deal's first three years ($12.45 million) and on the issue of how his escalator clauses are triggered (one 1,000-yard rushing season in any of the first three years, rather than all three as the team originally sought). OK, so Tomlinson got the best of it after missing the first 30 days of training camp. His six-year deal could earn him as much as $38 million, and contains $31 million of hard money if he has at least one 1,000-yard season from 2001-03. What concessions did the Chargers gain? Well, the total maximum value of the deal isn't the $45 million that Tomlinson initially sought. But if the details of yet another big-money contract bore you to death as much as they do most of us, here's the real issue that now takes center stage for the Chargers and Tomlinson: Given his extra month of inactivity, how quickly can the TCU standout breath life into a feeble San Diego running game that ranked dead last in 2000? "I think this still gives me enough time to get ready for opening day," Tomlinson said Wednesday, after signing his contract and reporting for the final three days of the team's training camp at the University of California-San Diego. "I think I'm in good shape, but today [at practice] I'll kind of find out where I am as far as football shape."
This much is certain: The Chargers are in much better shape today with Tomlinson on hand. Despite the team's recent brave front for reasons of posturing, San Diego had no intention of opening its season with second-year man Ronney Jenkins or still-healing veteran Terrell Fletcher in the lead running back role. Don't forget, the Chargers' leading rusher the past two years has been Fletcher with 384 yards last season, and Jermaine Fazande with 365 in 1999. By contrast, Tomlinson once rushed for an NCAA-record 406 yards in a single game, against Texas El-Paso in 1999. Can you say upgrade? But don't look for Tomlinson in the Chargers backfield when San Diego plays host to St. Louis on Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium. The rookie might try to talk his way into a limited role, but he'll fail. According to a Chargers source, Tomlinson will be held out until the Aug. 31 preseason finale at Arizona. San Diego plans on playing starting quarterback Doug Flutie into the third quarter against the Rams, and they're not eager to get him killed should their star rookie miss a blitz pickup due to his abbreviated camp stint. Still, by getting the man they call L.T. into camp this week, the Chargers are more than hopeful that he'll be ready when the bell rings for the Sept. 9 regular-season opener against visiting Washington. Organization wide, the Chargers take encouragement from how much Tomlinson seemed to grasp of Norv Turner's offense in offseason settings. "The thing that makes you feel so good is what we saw of him in minicamp, at summer school," Chargers general manager John Butler said. "People were kind of going, 'Wait a minute, this kid is really sharp.' He handled it all well, and I think he's going to have a good chance to contribute early. Just from watching his reactions and talking with him, I think most of it has stuck." Tomlinson, of course, plays the right position to make an early impact despite his holdout. With running being such an instinctive skill, backs are considered much less behind in terms of camp preparation compared to quarterbacks, offensive linemen or defenders. The Chargers' goal is to get Tomlinson to the line of scrimmage -- which is not always a given with San Diego's offensive line -- and let his natural abilities take over. "That's a God-given ability position there," Butler said of running back. "They do unique things and sometimes they can't even explain how they do it." The Chargers' biggest fear with Tomlinson is an obvious one. Having shown up late, they worry that Tomlinson will try to do too much too soon and wind up hurting himself. Nothing will subject the organization to more criticism than the deepening of the notion that long holdouts seem to often result in early injuries. "I told him today to be careful," Butler said. "If you feel something funny, don't be the hero before you even get going. That's the last thing you need, hearing that, 'Well, if he was here early that wouldn't have happened.' You know how that works." Looking at recent history, the early impact of the first running back drafted has been hit or miss. Jamal Lewis (No. 5, Baltimore, 2000), Edgerrin James (No. 4, Indianapolis, 1999) and Warrick Dunn (No. 12, Tampa Bay, 1997) had big rookie years. Curtis Enis (No. 5, Chicago, 1998) and Lawrence Phillips (No. 6, St. Louis, 1996) did not. If Tomlinson, the fifth overall pick, is ready to roll come opening day, the Chargers could make some early hay. San Diego, after the debacle of last year's 1-15 finish, draws a soft opening schedule: Washington, bye, at Dallas, Cincinnati and at Cleveland. A 3-1, or even 4-0, start is not out of the question if quarterback Doug Flutie is on his game and Tomlinson carries the ground game. For the Chargers, such a scenario would have seemed implausible without Tomlinson in the mix. "The holdout, it doesn't matter in the long run," Butler said. "It's all a part of the business. All I know is he's here, he's the person we wanted, we drafted him and we think the world of him. It was wonderful to see him when he walked in the door this morning. Now he gets to do what he wanted to do so badly, and that's to play. And just like that, we're a better football team." Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.
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