The Chargers are going to be back in San Diego for the 2016 season and they’ll start work this week on making sure tight end Antonio Gates is there as well.
Gates said near the end of the regular season that he didn’t want to end his career on the down note provided by the Chargers’ 4-12 season in 2015. He’s also said that he doesn’t want to play for anyone other than the Chargers, which should make for productive conversations between the team and Gates’ agent Tom Condon at the combine in Indianapolis this week.
General Manager Tom Telesco said that the plan is to talk about a new deal for Gates and that conversations with fellow impending free agent tight end Ladarius Green are on the docket as well.
“We’ll talk to Tom Condon in a little more detail in Indy, and we’ll talk to Ladarius’s guy in Indy as well,” Telesco said, via the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s February, and we’ve got until September to get the position together the best way we see fit. So, we’ll see. Through our own players, through free agency and through the draft, we’ll see.”
Gates missed four games while suspended and another with an injury last season, finishing the year with 56 catches and 630 yards. That’s in line with his past rate of production and makes his return for a 14th year with the Chargers a safe bet.