So if Donnie Edwards moves along.... (1 Viewer)

BUT...what if we found out that a large % of those 4+yrd tackles were on 1st down but on 3rd and shorts he had a large % of stops....

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I understand what you're saying, though. The stats themselves don't tell the whole story. About that, you are certainly correct.

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(AJ needs to start extending some contracts, too. It's Godfrey's last year. It's Edwards' last year if he stays. I believe that Cooper, Phillips, Wilhelm, Foley, and Polk are all in the final years of their contracts. So the only guys signed beyond this year are Merriman and Dobbins. Although, technically, Dobbins isn't signed right now at all.)

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"The Saints have a huge talent gap at linebacker and the Saints should try and structure a deal similar to the one that Chargers pieced together when they acquired veteran wide receiver Keenan McCardell from the Buccaneers in 2004.

The Chargers acquired the 34-year old McCardell from the Buccaneers for a third and a sixth-round choice in 2005. That sort of deal would seem to be fair for a player like Edwards."

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The Chargers would like to trade Edwards and safety Hanik Milligan. The Saints and Chargers talked about players who were available on both rosters Monday, and Edwards' name came up prominently.

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The Chargers would like to trade Edwards and safety Hanik Milligan. The Saints and Chargers talked about players who were available on both rosters Monday, and Edwards' name came up prominently.

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Any chance of a Stallworth/Watson trade?

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The Chargers would like to trade Edwards and safety Hanik Milligan. The Saints and Chargers talked about players who were available on both rosters Monday, and Edwards' name came up prominently.

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Any chance of a Stallworth/Watson trade?

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Not if you mean Courtney Watson - he was traded to the Bills for TE Tim Euhus earlier today.ETA: Of course, Watson didn't make it to the last team he was traded so maybe I shouldn't be so hasty...

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There has been almost no legitimate interest shown in Donnie Edwards, whose '06 salary is too big for most teams to justify for a 33-year-old middle linebacker who lacks the size to be a force at the line.

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And in further Charger IDP news:

Shaun Phillips Arrested

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Thunder & Lightning

By “foty89” James Parrotte

Many Chargers fans, and indeed observers from around the country, wonder at the seemingly rapid transformation of Donnie Edwards from fan favorite to team cancer, at least in the opinion a vocal minority of fans.

One wonders how fans could so quickly turn on a hometown hero who has had such huge numbers for the team since triumphantly returning to play for the Chargers as a free agent in 2002. How could a player who has more tackles in his time with the Chargers than any other player on the team and more tackles than virtually any other player in the league during those years fall so fast?

It is simple to understand actually, it is the difference between thunder and lightning.

You see, the Chargers have both, and therein lays Donnie’s problem with public perception. Donnie is a great player, has been all his career and even though he lost a step last season, whether due to injury or age, he is still better than many of the starting linebackers in the NFL. So where does the problem lie for Donnie?

It lies with L.T.

L.T. is the complete package, a magnificent player and a great person all rolled into one. That is all too rare in the NFL these days. The norm is for players who are great on the field is to be somewhat less so as people away from the game. Examples are plentiful and exceptions rare.

And rarer still are players in the mold of L.T., a truly great player and person who leads by example and never complains about what may happen to him, but only supports the team.

In Donnie we see a player who has always worked hard to get where he is, a player who was told time and again he would never make it in the NFL. A player who came from very humble backgrounds, never forgetting where he came from and spending a great deal of his time to help those less fortunate in life. Sounds like a great story, and for some, the growing distain for Donnie is all the more confusing. But the one thing Donnie really lacks is the ability to be a true leader.

Yes, he has been a great player on the field and has been an asset to the community, but he lacks the understanding to be a true leader. He has expressed displeasure at not being selected to the Pro Bowl and has been less than secretive about his contract complaints. A true leader puts the best interest of the team ahead of himself, and even when certain things do not go his way, he works for and acts in the best interest of the team. And a true leader would never complain about his situation in the midst of his teammates. A true leader puts the team first.

But despite all this, on most teams Donnie would still be hailed by the fans and players alike as one their favorites. But not so on the Chargers, we have L.T. What has L.T. been doing while Donnie was expressing himself? Nothing really, except setting all sorts of team and league records. Did he publicly boast of his achievements? No, he simply said how it was the result of the team and a whole. Frequently, he has given credit to the offensive line, even though he has never had the line in front of him that he deserves. When he was snubbed and not sent to the Pro Bowl following the 2003 season in which he set an NFL record as the first player to ever run for over 1500 yards and have 100 receptions, he never complained and instead worked on ways to improve and help the team. After his early success in the league, did he ever seek to redo his contract for more money? Nope, but the team did and again L.T. was modest in his acceptance of the contract and once again supported the team.

Perhaps in this era of me first players, filled with examples of professional athletes who exhibit skills on the field only matched by their selfish and greedy behavior off the field, Donnie is not all that bad. But when you have the likes of L.T. on your team, the actions of Donnie are not accepted, but rather viewed in a harsh light.

You see, L.T. is the lightning, he does a tremendous amount of damage on the field, but his damage is specific and confined to opponents. But Donnie is the thunder, loud and roaring, spreading far and wide. He too causes damage on the field, but his constant reverberations travel far and wide and they shake not only the opposite team, but the entire area as well. L.T. is the brilliant light that dazzles us, while Donnie is the loud noise that makes us cover our ears.

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Edwards a story even if GM wishes he weren't

UNION-TRIBUNE

Nick Canepa

July 26, 2006

Donnie Edwards should not be a story as the Chargers begin training camp. He should just be playing, being Donnie Edwards, the linebacker who grew up here and came home again.

“I don't think he's a story at all,” A.J. Smith says. “He'll be a story in October. Right now, I don't think anybody cares.”

Well, some people do. Yours truly, for one. Smith is the Chargers' general manager, not my editor. Edwards is a story because Smith has had it up to his uvula with him and openly has put the 11-year veteran on the trading block.

And Edwards is a story because nobody knows if this football team can be as good without him.

Smith obviously believes his defense can get along without Edwards. Talking to head coach Marty Schottenheimer, long a fan of Edwards, one gets the feeling he doesn't know if it can. Edwards may be 33 and on the downside of his career, he may not be the leader he's reputed to be, but he's still one of the best cover linebackers in the NFL, and the Chargers need all the help in coverage they can get. He may be the Chargers' best defensive back. And he's playoff-hardened.

Edwards didn't enjoy a sensational 2005, but he damaged his knee – he had surgery for a torn meniscus in January – and played hurt the final 10 games. True, the defense is geared to funnel ball carriers in his direction, so he makes a lot of tackles. It's been pointed out that the tackles come deeper down the field now, but at least he makes them. He made 152 stops in 2005, ranking fourth in the NFL. San Diego topped the League in run defense.

“He played well last year,” Schottenheimer says. “I think he's a winning NFL linebacker; he's a playmaker. Talk to anyone on the defensive staff and they'll tell you the same thing.”

Maybe we'll do that. Oh, sorry. Schottenheimer won't allow the media to talk to his assistants. So we're forced to go back to the head coach.

“He never comes off the field,” Schottenheimer says. “He plays hurt. He's not that big, but he has one of those bend-but-don't-break bodies. Look at his numbers. He makes plays. That's what it's about on defense – and offense. Making plays.”

Schottenheimer can use playmakers.

“I think every team can,” he says. “Don't you?”

Thanks for asking. Yes.

Edwards, in camp now with the rookies and quarterbacks (veterans who had offseason surgery report early), is cordial but refuses to discuss the matter of his becoming trade chum.

“I'm not even thinking about it,” he says. “I'm not going to talk about it. I just want to let it go and move on. I've talked about it enough. I'm just getting ready for the season, out here with the rookies. My body feels good. I played 10 games last year with a torn meniscus and played through it. I've missed one game in my career.”

Smith thinks Edwards is under instructions (from agent Tom Condon?) to no longer discuss his situation.

“He's been told to go underground,” Smith insists. “Just shut up and don't work the back door with your media friends.”

The reason Edwards in on the block is pretty simple. He's scheduled to earn $4 million in this, the final year of his contract. He wants to be paid as much as the best linebackers earn. Smith thinks Edwards makes enough.

Thus far, according to the GM, no offers have arrived for Edwards, although New Orleans is said to be interested. Smith isn't actively shopping him. Edwards is just out there. He may stay out there until the trading deadline, Oct. 17.

“He's not going to be cut, obviously,” Smith says. “He's on the market. What's happening, I have no idea. It only goes down when I say it goes down. I'm driving the boat here.

“Teams have shown little or no interest at this time. On Oct. 17, it all stops, and he's a member of the Chargers. He's on our football team. I like Donnie, and I like his contract. Donnie has a problem with his contract and has had a problem with his contract for three consecutive years. I'm tired of this. We're trying to accommodate him.”

The way things are developing, it appears Edwards, if he stays, may take fewer snaps on running downs, giving way to Matt Wilhelm, who is more likely to take on blockers near the line of scrimmage. But, if healthy, Edwards can run. Hard to count him out.

“I'm just tired of all his bull(bleep) and innuendo he's put out there,” Smith says. “I don't want to talk about it anymore.”

But, of course, the GM will, although he doesn't like to discuss football business.

“Just shut up and play; that's your job,” Smith says.

But even he admits Edwards can still play.

“Yes, he's a viable player,” the GM says. “He's not a nonplayer. But we've got a lot of players and a lot of contracts. If he's still here, at the end of the year we'll decide who the Chargers are. You can speculate what we do with him.”

No speculation required.

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