Friday Walk-Thru: Chargers Still Playing Hardball With Holdouts

The signing of free-agent offensive tackle Tra Thomas made big news in San Diego this week, but hardly for the same reasons a Thomas signing might have made in, say, 2002 or '03.

You know, back when the guy could play.

By signing Thomas, a 12th-year pro who was a backup in Jacksonville last season, the Chargers -- specifically general manager A.J. Smith -- drew a line and dared restricted free agent Marcus McNeill to cross it.

McNeill, one of the best young tackles in the game, and wide receiver Vincent Jackson, also a blossoming star, have been no-shows at the Chargers' offseason workouts and mandatory minicamp. Both have refused to sign their RFA tenders and have vowed to stage lengthy holdouts into the 2010 regular season, if need be. The no-nonsense Smith (pictured right) informed the two in a letter he intends to follow the NFL's allotted guidelines and reduce the offers to McNeill and Jackson to standardized 10-percent raises; drastically, in fact -- from over $3 million each to around $600,000.

Smith declined to address the situation during organized team activities this week and, instead, referred to comments he made earlier in the offseason.

"I don't know what they are thinking, and I have no idea when we'll see them again or if we will ever see them again."
- A.J. Smith "I wish all of our players were here every day, but that's not the real NFL world we live in," Smith told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "Business decisions are being made by all parties. The players and their agents, I'm sure, are discussing what's best for them. It's their absolute right to do so and I fully understand. I don't know what they are thinking, and I have no idea when we'll see them again or if we will ever see them again. This I do know: the upcoming season will be on us very soon. Whoever we have as Chargers, we go with. I don't spend much time speculating on who will be here or when they will be here."

Betcha Philip Rivers, though, wonders who will be protecting his blindside and whether Jackson, who averaged 17.2 yards on his 68 receptions and scored nine TDs, will be racing downfield for a Chargers team that went 13-3 before collapsing at home in the playoffs again.

Therein lies the players' leverage.

But Smith, remember, is the guy who drafted Rivers despite having Drew Brees on the roster, then eventually let Brees walk in free agency. Smith put himself out there with that decision, but the Chargers have won four straight AFC West titles since, so don't think he's afraid to play a little hardball.

If McNeill and Jackson want to play, they can maintain their refusal not to sign the tenders, sit out the entire year, make nothing, lose an accrued season toward unrestricted free agency and maybe be in the exact same position next year. Or they can hold out until Week 10 of the season, get a pro-rated portion of their reduced salaries, get the accrued season and see what happens with labor negotiations in 2011. Either way, they won't be happy.

Seems to me there's at least 3 million reasons to end this standoff right now. Before things get crazy, maybe even a little volatile, with Tuesday's deadline.

Tra Thomas wishes he had such problems.

PRACTICE? TALKIN' 'BOUT OFFSEASON PRACTICE

The Baltimore Ravens gave Terrell Suggs a six-year, $63 million contract extension last year, a gesture for which the Pro Bowl outside linebacker thanked his team by showing up at training camp 23 pounds overweight. He fought through some injuries and finished '09 with 4 1/2 sacks, the fewest in his seven pro seasons.

Time to rebound, right?

Suggs got $23 million of the deal in option this offseason. So how many voluntary workouts has he attended this spring?

Zero.

That's just wrong. Is Suggs trying to challenge Albert Haynesworth for the Just-Picking-Up-A-Paycheck title?

"I can't vouch for anything he's doing or not doing," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "I think Terrell's got a good heart. I think he's a hard worker. I think he's very motivated to have a great season."

Harbaugh either has a good heart himself or is just being the good diplomat. Yes, Suggs checked into mandatory minicamp in May at around 270 pounds (and looking to get to 260), but the Ravens have to be skeptical.

QUICK SLANTS

• New Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, looking very much like the perp in an ugly hit-and-run accident, said he was "shocked and disappointed" by the NCAA sanctions that slammed his former USC football program. "The primary issue during the process was, did the university know? The university didn't know, we didn't know," Carroll said. Sorry, not good enough. Whether a school knew of misconduct is only half of the NCAA's Committee on Infractions' standard when it comes to institutional control. The other half asks, "Should it have known?" Answer: Given the magnitude of the violations, a resounding yes.

• Speaking of the hammer falling on USC, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who starred at rival Cal, had this to say Thursday to Packers linebacker and former Trojan Clay Matthews via Twitter: "Looking forward to getting my PAC-10 championship ring from the '04 season. Thanks @claymatthews52." Rodgers' Bears finished runner-up to the renegade Trojans that season.

• Word out of Washington is that Haynesworth, still sulking and boycotting OTAs since being asked to play nose tackle for that $41 million he's pulling down, finally is on his way to D.C. to be in place for next week's mandatory mini-camp. Drive-thru windows from Nashville to Northern Virginia need be on the lookout.

• Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis suffered a second ACL tear to his right knee in seven months during OTAs two weeks ago, but has targeted midseason '10 as his comeback goal. Ambitious, yes, but how realistic? Or smart?