Chargers mulling deal for Turner on eve of draft
By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
8:23 p.m. April 27, 2007
Michael Turner might not change this draft for the Chargers, but he could well set up an already-loaded franchise a year from now.
A source confirmed today that on the eve of the draft the Chargers are mulling an offer from an unidentified club for a first-round draft pick in 2008 in exchange for the backup running back.
Multiple teams are expected to call Smith with a trade offer during tomorrow's first round, but there still remains no guarantee Turner will be traded because Smith covets him as an insurance policy for this season.
The source would not say which team has stepped up with the best offer the Chargers have seen so far – the '08 first-rounder – but other sources said it is believed to be the Green Bay Packers.
Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith would not address the Turner situation today, but he has indicated in recent weeks he would take a first-rounder next year as part of a deal for Turner.
Sources also said the Chargers are trying to get more from the unidentified team.
Additionally, the Tennessee Titans are still negotiating with the Chargers but are loathe to part with a first-round pick. However, the Titans already have the parameters of a deal in place with Turner's agent, Bus Cook.
Turner visited Tennessee and Buffalo during the free agency period.
Buffalo, once the front-runner for Turner, according to sources, stopped negotiating with Cook last week when the two sides could not get close on money after numerous exchanges. Cook is asking for more than $17 million in guaranteed money in a five-year deal.
The mystery team, according to sources, is not going to work a deal with Cook up front. Instead, it will pay Turner the $2.35 million salary he is due this year and anticipate making him its franchise player in 2008, which would cost them approximately $7.5 million for that season. During that time, they will try to work a deal with Turner.
That is a scenario that goes against the conventional thinking that a team would always want to sign a player before parting with draft picks.
Even with the likelihood that numerous teams will make a play for Turner tomorrow, Smith has always said he is fine with keeping Turner for the 2007 season and then losing him as a free agent. Sources said Smith is still mulling that option, which likely would net the Chargers a compensatory third-round pick in the 2009 draft and give them the security of having Turner as they make an expected playoff run in '07.
Turner was a restricted free agent this offseason but went unsigned because any team signing him would have had to give the Chargers a first-round and third-round draft pick.
Smith never expected a team to part with a first and a third, but it was his starting point for the trade talks that have occurred with at least a half-dozen teams.
It is known that the Dallas Cowboys recently offered to swap spots with the Chargers in this year's first round and give them a third-round pick this year or next. Before the Chargers could decline the deal – which they would have – it was pulled by Dallas because of Cook's asking price.
Smith has maintained he is not interested in swapping first-round spots with a team.
As for which player the Chargers will take in today's first round, there are numerous possibilities since they do not make their first pick until 30th.
A receiver is needed, as is a safety. A linebacker would be a luxury.
All three are possibilities in the first round, depending on what happens in front of them.
Sources inside the organization indicated this week that a linebacker is a strong possibility with the 30th pick – likely Paul Poluszny or Jon Beason.
The Chargers have their starters for 2007 set at linebacker. But Stephen Cooper and Matt Wilhelm are new to the first team, and there is not much behind the starters either inside or outside.
Said Smith: “I love depth, and I love to look two or three years down the line – if you can stockpile.”
Still, there should be at least one receiver available at No. 30 who is ready to contribute immediately.
One factor that could affect whether the Chargers strike first on a receiver is that the depth of solid receivers in this draft is exceptional.
Should Robert Meachem of Tennessee or Dwayne Bowe of LSU be available, the Chargers consider both ready to contribute immediately.
If Meachem and Bowe are gone – they appear to be the most likely to be available by that point – the Chargers will likely wait until the second round to nab one of the other handful of solid receivers available.
It appears increasingly unlikely a safety worthy of the 30th pick will be available. So that could be another spot they wait on but will almost certainly fill with one of their four picks today.
What they will do in today's three rounds has all been sorted out over the past two weeks, much of it in the past 24 hours.
The team's many scouts and assistant coaches concluded their meetings with Smith and assistant GM Buddy Nix on Wednesday. Just Smith, Nix and head coach Norv Turner met for the past two days.
They considered every conceivable trade proposal, talked about every player that could be available to them with each pick (especially the first three rounds) and how that player will fit in to their scheme, every which way the draft might go in their opinion.
It was Smith who sat alone as yesterday afternoon turned to night.
He ruminated over the clusters of players – the group of four or five they might take at each spot they draft. By 9 p.m., he knew which player he would take at No. 30 if all falls as he figures this morning.
The Chargers are coming off a 14-2 season and don't need the draft to resurrect them as it did three years ago.
What might shape their actions today are the facts they have at least 18 returning starters in-house and a roster that is largely cemented.
“Our team is pretty set,” Smith said. “We like a lot of things. But my God, somebody is coming in here. You're drafting players to get better.”
. Great guy and blast to drink with. I still have a full set of original 6"x10" black and white pictures of one of his Cards teams and a copy of Sports Illustrated with him on the cover.Sorry to sidetrack.
