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He's wasn't just the consensus WR1 in that class - he was considered the best WR prospect coming out of College, maybe ever. He was Marvin Harrison Jr. 10 years before Marvin Harrison Jr. A "can't miss" prospect.

I think the problem with Sammy is that he was so supremely gifted that he never really had to put in the work at Clemson. He could show up and just smoke College athletes. In the NFL, it's a different ball game. He could still play at a moderate level skating by on just pure talent because he was just THAT talented. But to be what he was expected to be coming into the league, he'd have to really work and dedicate himself. And that just wasn't in him. He tells stories of showing up to practice still under the influence from the night before. You can't do that and expect to be the best at your position at the NFL level. Reading that article, it's actually kind of amazing that he performed as well as he did in the NFL with what he was dealing with mentally and physically and with his approach to NFL football.

No context besides "lower body injury", "limping", and "did not return" could mean anything from just a bruise all the way to out for the year. Guess we'll know more tomorrow. *Really* hope it's nothing. If it is major, get Hunter Renfrow on the phone, stat.

Not a great look for Shorter or Hamler, who are both on the outside looking in as it is.

You act as though we didn't go into this offseason *54 million* over the cap - with 21 Free Agents, even before we traded or cut 8 more. I don't know how you look at that and go "don't care, big splash on a single WR when they're going for historically high prices or he's failed us". You can argue he shouldn't have put us in that situation in the first place and that's a fine opinion to have. But that doesn't change the fact that's the exact situation we were in and that meant any one big spending move couldn't work with everything we had to do. As it is, we paid out our biggest veteran FA contract this offseason from another team to a WR (Curtis Samuel) and our top Draft Pick was spent on a WR (Keon Coleman). So that's our two biggest investments this offseason put into the WR position. I'm sorry you wanted more, but it simply was not in the cards this year.

I don't disagree that Sammy was Drafted to a team that was, as you say, "a rudderless ship" that was wasting his talent. But he spent ages 25-29 playing with Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Aaron Rodgers in winning cultures. If it was just a matter of Sammy being in the wrong place, he'd have lived up to expectations in one of those places and would still be playing instead of bouncing around and being out of the league before he turned 30. There was a lot more to it than just being Drafted to the wrong team.

No, I'm definitely not correlating alcohol and substance issues with character. There are plenty of good people out there that addiction has gotten it's claws into. There's also functioning addicts, like Poyer that you mentioned and Von Miller that are able to still put in the work and be mentally in the game. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that was the case for Watkins. His demons, whether it be addiction or trauma (which surely led to addiction) had their claws in him too deep. He was talented enough to still play at a moderate NFL level, even with the things he was dealing with. But he was never able to live up to the expectations on pure talent alone. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2889029-what-sammy-watkins-believes

There were the injuries. But the bigger problem was that he struggled with substance abuse issues and wasn't mentally approaching the game the right way. Beane takes flack for putting so much emphasis on character and work ethic. But Watkins is proof that you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have your head screwed on straight - it won't matter.

I don't see us keeping just 5 this season. That was an anomaly predicated on us having an abundance of Defensive Lineman to keep. That's not an issue this season. Every other season under McDermott and Beane, we've either kept 6 or 7. I see the number being 6 this year. And yes, with the amount of long time core Special Teamers we've lost this year (Tyler Matakevitch, Siran Neal, Dane Jackson, Tyrel Dodson, and more) - I would keep him for Special Teams alone. And it's a massive reason why he was targeted and acquired so quickly in FA by Beane. But he brings more than just that.

Nothing major. If there's a bottom of the roster guy we're cutting anyways that someone will offer a 6th in exchange for a 7th or something, sure. But the 53 is pretty clear and I don't really see anyone that we won't need that someone's going to offer us anything for. As for us trading for someone, I wouldn't expect it before the season starts. Maybe someone mid season if injuries happen or a position group is underperforming.

If you're a WR being added to another teams 53 after being cut, it's almost always bottom of the depth chart to fill out the roster and play Special Teams.

Again, though, you're making the one exception the rule. One time in all of the guaranteed signings doesn't make it likely. It just means it isn't a total impossibility.

The difference between Hamler and Claypool (beyond the size) is that he had multiple seasons over 860 yards each and was a talent that teams were not only acquiring - but trading assets for, even last year. He's never not been 53 man rostered and doesn't have an injury history, as opposed to Hamler who has a really dodgy one. Hamler's a guy that hasn't had a total of even 650 yards in his entire career, entering Year 5. He's never had so much as a 400 yard season. He had 381 in 2020 and has amassed a total of 234 yards in the 3 years since combined. He was cut twice in under a year, without anyone interested in trading for him. The entire league could have taken him off the Practice Squad at any time last season for nothing and no one did. To say that Claypool = Hamler as far as a prospect goes is simply inaccurate. Claypool has had multiple years of 850+ yards. He's proven he is capable of it. Hamler never has. Claypool is a bit of a reclamation project. Hamler has shown nothing to even reclaim. And MVS and Hollins will be here. If you want to say they aren't a stone cold lock, that's not an insane thing to say. But MVS was signed to 2.55m guaranteed. Josh personally brought him to his home, told him he wants to play with him, and recruited him. Hollins was signed within the first couple days of FA for his versatility and leadership, with a specific role in mind. He's a known commodity as a very good Special Teamer (at a time when we let a lot of our core go) and a very good down field blocker. He's one of the first guys Beane talks about when asked about the WR Room. Again, you can say they aren't "stone cold locks". But they're very close and WAYYY more likely to be here than not. The idea that Hamler is going to play one of them off is an extremely unrealistic idea.

MVS' contract was structured not to spread out the hit to make a cut easier, but out of necessity. I think the plan was to sign one of the top remaining Outside WR's when Tre's money came in. But after Michael Gallup, Odell Beckham Jr., DJ Chark, and Zay Jones got scooped up before the money came and other teams started bringing MVS in for visits - we had to somehow make his contract work with the little money we had on hand. Which meant we were forced to add void years to his deal to give him a higher guarantee, while still fitting it into our cap figure this year. Whether it's a hit that's spread out over years or all at once, it's over 2.5m in guarantees we're paying him either way.

So many of you are so DRASTICALLY overrating Hamler's chances of making this roster. He's a "Futures" guy now. Futures are lucky to even make the Practice Squad. He's a 5'9" 178 lb. abandoned 2nd Round Pick with under 650 yards total since entering the league in 2020, who when given his change of scenery second chance, was never even activated and discarded at the end of the year, will be almost two years removed from his last game at the start of the season, has had 2 torn ACL's, and hamstring issues. He's on his 3rd team in under a year, brought in with other Practice Squad and UDFA level players. Shorter, being an undeveloped 5th Round investment, will have way more of a chance than Hamler. Hamler is *clearly* on the outside looking in. He's this year's Andy Isabella. Someone who you all fall in love with because he has some speed and was once Drafted in Round 2, but ultimately has a ceiling of the Practice Squad - regardless of what he does with the 3rd team during the Pre-Season. And Andy Isabella didn't have as many issues as Hamler when he came here. If he were looked at as any sort of commodity, we wouldn't have brought in 5 more WR's after acquiring him with only 4 spots vacated - who all have, at least, a much better shot at making the roster, if not guaranteed to. I see almost no way he goes from cut on the Broncos after a 2nd Round investment, Practice Squad on the Colts without a single elevation, to on the 53 for us. It's either he shows something and comes back on the Practice Squad, or he's outright cut. Of the 5 guys you list as not locks, he'll be the easiest to get back and by a wide margin. Being cut from 3 teams in a year doesn't lend itself to being signed to a 53 by another team, cold when it comes to their system. Hell, I'd say it's more likely Andy Isabella or Tyrell Shavers makes the squad - entering year 2 in the system and not being injury prone.

OJ Howard is the exception that everyone likes to try and make the rule. If you can only point to one guaranteed money vet FA signing that was released by Beane in the same year - out of all of his guaranteed money signings, that data doesn't make for a very good argument. Possible? Yes. Likely? No, extremely unlikely.

Daequan Hardy was almost exclusively Drafted as a Kick Returner. And if you're arguing lack of production as a reason to not keep Hollins, I haven't the foggiest how you can say Hamler should be a bigger consideration. Hollins had 690 yards two seasons ago. Yes, last season, it was 251. But he was also playing on a PUTRID Falcons passing offense with a terrible QB and was hurt 4 games. You point to Hollins only going over 251 once. But Hamler? He hasn't had 251 yards total *combined* in the last 3 seasons. He didn't play a single snap last season, put up 165 yards in 2022, 74 yards in 2021, and 381 yards in 2020. Hell, if you combine ALL of Hamler's yardage since entering the league in 2020 - it's less than what Hollins did in 2022 alone. Mack Hollins was signed within the first couple days of Free Agency with a specific role in mind. He's often one of the first names Beane brings up when talking about the WR core. I think if you're hoping for Mack Hollins to be cut (for whatever reason), you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

I don't see that. Hollins was brought in largely for his Special Teams experience/ability and for being an above average blocker from the WR position. MVS provides none of that. They'll both be here. It'll come down to Shorter or Claypool. Outside chance he keeps 7 and they both stick. Hamler has a Practice Squad ceiling. Like Isabella before him, no amount of good Pre-Season film with Trubisky/Buechele against 3rd stringers and players who will end up on the street is going to take the stink of his bust label off him, after being released by 3 teams in a year. It's without a doubt we'll be able to retain him on the Practice Squad, like it was after Isabella's strong Pre-Season. As opposed to Shorter or Claypool, where there's a higher chance we wouldn't be able to.

That's why he's not in the lock list, even with his guaranteed money. It'll come down to how ready Tylan Grable looks. Even with how he looks in OTA's, Camp, and Pre-Season, the guarantees and his experience at OT will probably take precedent unless Grable looks great and is ahead of schedule. When it comes to OT3 or OT4, guys who don't look great are pretty standard league wide - even for us. See: David Quessenberry, Bobby Hart But either way, it doesn't have any barring on whether or not we kept Clapp. It would either be one OT or another.

Looks like he'll be staying a Free Agent this season...

The bottom line is neither David Edwards nor SVPG are going to be cut. We don't cut Draft Picks in their first year above Round 6. It's happened only once in the McBeane era (Vosean Joseph, after a redshirt year). SVPG was Drafted in Round 5. We don't cut players we sign to guaranteed money over 1-1.5m in the same offseason. It's happened only once in the McBeane era (OJ Howard). We signed Edwards to 2.95m guaranteed. David Edwards is a presumed starter at LG. At worst he'd be first OG off the bench. SVPG is the presumed backup at Center, with a small chance he could start. That's each players floor and ceiling, given their investment. Ultimately, it's a numbers game. The number we keep at OL is usually 9. Sometimes it's 10. It's generally 4 OT's and 5 Interior Lineman. Recently at Center, it's been a True Center (Morse) and a Backup that can be Center or Guard (Bates). Looking at the roster, I don't really see much of a path to keep Clapp: Dion Dawkins David Edwards Connor McGovern O'Cyrus Torrence Spencer Brown Ryan Van Demark SVPG That's 7 completely locked in. 4 IOL and 3 OT's. Leaving one OT and one IOL. Maybe an extra if we keep 10 this season. It comes down to: La'el Collins (Likely the 2nd Reserve OT at 1.5m guaranteed) Alec Anderson (Likely the 5th Interior OL and on the 53 all last season) Tylan Grable (Round 6 OT - likely to be the 10th OL if we keep 10, outside chance he beats out Collins as Reserve OT2) Will Clapp Richard Gouraige Travis Clayton (Round 7 OG) Keaton Bills Kevin Jarvis Gunner Britton Mike Edwards When it comes to our Centers, it's McGovern and SVPG, with each having flexibility to play Guard. Even if SVPG starts and McGovern goes back to Guard, it would be McGovern as the Backup Center. I can see a scenario where he isn't as good as SVPG, but I don't see a scenario where he simply can't play the position, even at a backup level. And instead of SVPG on the bench as one of the interior reserves, it would be Edwards. In Edwards is a guy who started 46 of 53 games before coming here, including every game for the Super Bowl Champion Rams, under Aaron Kromer. And like I said, we paid him about 3m guaranteed. If someone would come off the bench because of an injury at Center, it would be him at Guard with McGovern sliding over rather than putting in Clapp next to McGovern. They only guaranteed Clapp 287k and then Drafted SVPG after acquiring him. That really says all that needs to be said for what they think of him and the footing he has on this team. If there were a clear role for him he'd have been guaranteed more money and/or they wouldn't have Drafted SVPG. The clearest path for Clapp would be beating out Alec Anderson for the last interior spot. And I don't see that happening. They seem to really like him. And they aren't keeping 3 Centers and 6 IOL.

Is he? We don't know what he wants or is looking for. He was on the short list for people we could logically extend to save cap space this offseason. But we opted to restructure his contract instead. Which said to me either a.) He wasn't interested in what we were offering without testing the market in a year or b.) We would rather see how this year goes and evaluate the position next season. Either way, him not showing up to OTA's is nothing to fret over. He did the same in Green Bay. It's voluntary. Some players just don't want to do it. He's under contract. He'll be here. We'll see how the year goes and what he wants at the end of it and go from there. No need to manufacture an issue that as far as we know, doesn't exist.

I don't see that happening. SVPG becoming undeniable wouldn't lead to them keeping an extra OL that they normally wouldn't. In the event that SVPG did blow everyone's socks off, they'd move McGovern back to Guard and Edwards would take SVPG's presumed spot on the 53 as a reserve. If SVPG were to get hurt in that scenario, they'd shuffle the line by sliding McGovern to Center and put Edwards at Guard. I don't see a scenario where McGovern is so garbage at Center that they wouldn't even entrust him to be the Backup and that they'd prefer to have Clapp and McGovern on the Starting Line instead of McGovern and Edwards. Edwards is a Kromer favorite and a full time starter before last season. I don't see a scenario where he's going to fall on his face in Kromer's system. He was brought back at a pay raise because of Kromer's history with him and and belief in him. What makes McGovern a good Guard is what makes him a better fit as a Center. He's very good at holding the line and not letting people through. However, he's not good at pushing his man backwards. This is fine for a Center. But for a Guard, you want them to get push for runs to the Left side. Thus, the shift to Center - with Edwards to Guard who's better at pushing his man. I really don't see him being a decent Guard but an albatross at Center. Especially since that's the position he played in High School and College.

I don't think the Chargers were completely blindsided by this. He was put on IR for a Heart Issue last season. This offseason, they signed Bradley Bozeman from Baltimore, who's started 77 of 96 games in his career. I take it you just assumed this and didn't look at who's still on the market for Centers. Unlike a lot of positions, the Center market still has some solid starting options available. Starting Centers like Connor Williams, Mason Cole, and (the other) Connor McGovern are still available as Free Agents. The Chargers have 26m in Cap Space still. They'll sign one of them if they don't think Bozeman's the guy. I don't think they'll have any interest in Clapp. We're not going to keep 3 Centers. McGovern is our Starting Center. He played the position in College and always felt he was more naturally fit there and has been itching to get back to it. If there were any doubt there, they'd have switched him back by now. SVPG is our Backup. He's as prepared as any Rookie possibly could be, being a 3 year starter at Georgia against the highest possible College competition. Neither are going to be cut. Clapp is a Camp Body, signed to no guarantees. He's only making this roster if one of them get hurt. If LA were to call, it's a no brainer. But I don't see them calling.