San Diego Chargers agree to five-year extension with Marcus McNeill
The San Diego Chargers showed their appreciation to left tackle Marcus McNeill for ending his holdout last week. After the Pro-Bowl left tackle skipped all offseason workouts, training camp, the preseason and three weeks of the regular season, he reported
to the Chargers, signing his restricted free-agent tender.
After working on a long-term deal all week, McNeill received the big payday he’s been seeking. McNeill signed for five years worth $48.5 million. This is certainly a huge surprise after Chargers General Manager AJ Smith did not appear to be willing to offer
either of his holdouts the long-term deal they were seeking.
The Chargers offered McNeill a one-year $3.168 million tender in June, which he refused to sign. The Chargers reduced the offer to $630,000 when McNeill hadn’t signed by the June 15th deadline. McNeill finally signed following Week two and has now been activated
to the roster after spending three weeks on the roster-exempt list.
Perhaps a little more desperation set in for both sides given the Chargers’ Super Bowl expectations combined with their 2-3 start. With the Chargers throwing the ball so often, Smith probably figured that the team would need McNeill’s superb blocking to
protect Philip Rivers for a while.
McNeill will earn around $30 million in the first three years of his contract. That puts him among the highest offensive linemen in the league. It is not known yet how much of the contract is guaranteed.
That ends one problem for San Diego and their remaining one is wide receiver Vincent Jackson. Jackson’s situation is a little fuzzy, as Chargers have already rejected several trade offers for Jackson, which has upset the holdout more. With such a high asking
price for the wide out and no long-term contract offered no one knows when or if Jackson will play for any team this season. The trade deadline is Tuesday October 19th.
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