As you know, all the rumors were that he was on his way. We had not officially heard that. But we got a phone call before we kicked off. He is on his way. He is going to sign the tender this evening. |
Eli was one of the four players we were considering as the first pick in the draft. Eli, his family and [agent] Tom Condon of IMG felt that the Chargers were not a good fit for Eli's future. The rest is history. We wish him well in his NFL career. |
Fran was at the Grey Cup. I don't know how many teams actually send a director or scout. My point is he's a tireless worker and he'll look wherever there are players that you think can help your football team win. |
He's a terrific football player, very versatile. He's tough and competitive. |
I don't know if they were wrong. Sure you want your 1-2-3-4 picks to make it ---- that's how you get to have a good football team. But it's going to be hard for a sixth- or seventh-rounder to make it. |
I don't know where the rumors come from. But if you hear something, and someone asks you and you say it is fine that should be good enough. |
I think it is great for our people to be considered, but at the same token, you hate to lose some people because it is for your football team that they are good coaches. |
I told him going into surgery that we were going to try to get a long-term deal. I told him not to worry about it during rehab. My main concern is for him to get healthy, come back and help the San Diego Chargers win a championship. |
I'm not interested in Donnie Edwards' seven-year tackling statistics. I'm only interested in the type of player he is (currently) and the player he may be in the future. |
I've heard that for a long, long time. I wasn't even here during the Leaf era. Our ownership was. But I can tell you this, we are open-minded to anything, whether it's using the first selection on a quarterback or getting one in free agency. If it's a first-spot quarterback, so be it. The past will not have an impact on the pick. |
If you move up, you're going to pay a price. I wouldn't be against giving up a package for a certain individual who you think is an incredible player, a difference-maker. But the people who go up to do something like that probably think, 'We're a player away from a world championship.' I don't know if we're there yet. |
If you're up top, you get a marquee player through about 10 or 11. If you're in the middle of the pack, you'll miss out on that unless you go up. |
It looks like we've got a window now, from when the tender is signed, until Dallas. |
It's disappointing, but it's business. |
My philosophy is to pay our own players. We stepped out of the box midway through last season. We didn't want him to play for $380,000. We recognized his ability, but we didn't get anywhere. That's fine. Both parties have to agree. Unfortunately, we can't seem to get it going. Hopefully we will. Now, we all know exactly what we're up against. |