Saving the Chargers

Late in 2016, the Chargers days in San Diego seemed numbered. They needed a new stadium, but ownership was unwilling to pay the price. Rumors of relocation started to swirl.

According to USA Today, a new stadium would have costed $1.2 billion. The NFL was willing to contribute a whopping $300 million and a naming rights deal could have netted a similar amount. That leaves approximately $600 million left — chump change for a man worth $2.4 billion at the time.

Instead, Chargers owner Dean Spanos wanted to raise city taxes to cover nearly $300 million of the remaining cost. Naturally, citizens of San Diego voted against it, but Spanos already had his eyes set elsewhere: Los Angeles.

Early in 2017, the Chargers officially announced they would be moving to Los Angeles for the start of the 2017 NFL season. The move was always a money-grab from Spanos. He blamed the city of San Diego, but everyone knew the truth. Spanos chose the bright lights of Hollywood and the allure of the Rams’ palace in Inglewood.

Here’s the thing: Spanos was only willing to pay $350 million towards a new stadium in San Diego, but had no problem paying the $550 million relocation fee. Makes sense, right?

Flash forward to 2019. In a turn of events only every single person who remotely understands football could have predicted, the Chargers tenure in Los Angles isn’t working. The city can barely sustain one professional football franchise and the Rams a) got there first and b) just made the Super Bowl.

The Chargers franchise is not connecting with the Los Angeles population. They’re playing in a 27,000 seat soccer stadium and still can’t sell out home games. An October primetime game against the Steelers better resembled a Pittsburgh home game.

The Steelers and Chargers take the field. #dkps #steelers pic.twitter.com/vPKb2kM5ph

— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) October 13, 2019

If the Chargers can’t even fill their current 27,000 seat doghouse, what’s going to happen in the 70,00 seat mansion next season?

It could be a decade (or more) before the Chargers start earning revenue on par with expectations. If there’s one thing we know about the NFL, it’s that they don’t mess around when it comes to money.

Something needs to change, fast.

Gaining Relevance in Los Angeles

If the Chargers are hellbent on staying in LA, they have to do something to generate interest in the franchise. I don’t advise sacrificing wins for headlines, but surely there can be some sort of balance. I have two ideas to accomplish relevance in Los Angeles.

Hire Greg Roman and sign Colin Kaepernick

Go big or go home. Yikes. That was a poor choice of words. Let’s try that again.

Los Angeles is the city of stars and celebrities. The Chargers need a spark. How about signing the most polarizing figure in the sport’s recent memory? Yeah that’ll do. Kaepernick is hosting a private workout for all 32 NFL teams this Friday, so he still has interest in playing in the league.

This move isn’t purely political. I’m of the belief that Kaepernick can still play professional football at a relatively high level and I’m certain he would succeed with Greg Roman running the offense.

#Ravens OC Greg Roman deserves to be 2020’s No. 1 HC candidate

* Longtime elite run-game designer
* Tailors offense to fit personnel rather than forcing “mah scheme”
* Overseen Kap, Tyrod, Lamar career years
* Forward-thinking hire exposed to edges analytics provide in Baltimore

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) November 13, 2019

Roman will likely be among the top coveted coaching candidates in the offseason. He’s the man largely responsible for Lamar Jackson’s accession into the MVP conversation. Back in Kaepernick’s heyday, Roman was the offensive coordinator for the 49ers. San Francisco made three consecutive appearances in the NFC Championship game in the Kaepernick-Roman era, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2012.

Kaepernick provides a similar skill set to Jackson and when you factor in the arsenal of weapons the Chargers already have in place — Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter Henry, Austin Ekeler and possibly Melvin Gordon — the Chargers offense could explode in 2020.

Now I realize I haven’t discusses an important aspect of this plan: the end of the Phillip Rivers era. If you watched him play in Week 10, you might agree that it’s time to move on from the franchise legend. Rivers has had an excellent career, but he’s not the type of player worth hanging onto as he approaches age 40. One of Bill Belichick’s core beliefs is that he’d rather move on from a player a year too early, rather than too late. I believe the Chargers should apply this philosophy to Rivers and proactively find his replacement.

Kaepernick and Roman would captivate the attention of everyone in America, let alone Los Angeles. The Chargers offense would instantly become must-watch television. How do you turn that down, Spanos?

Hire Lincoln Riley

If the Chargers decide against signing Kaepernick (*cough* COWARDS *cough*), they must hire the hottest name in college football.

We all know Riley is an offensive genius. He’s engineered the last two Heisman winning seasons (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray) and could be on his way to a third with Jalen Hurts. (For the record, I am still Team #TankForBurrow.)

I’m not sold on Hurts being an NFL quarterback, let alone a successful one. But if there’s anyone who could make him a star, it’s Riley. The Chargers could likely land Hurts in the second round or later of the draft, allowing them to address bigger needs in the first round. Additionally, the pairing of a college coach and his latest rejuvenation project is the type of statement move that has to be made in order to stay in Los Angeles.

With Riley calling the shots, the Chargers could go a number of routes at quarterback. His scheme could extend Rivers’ career a few years or the Chargers could draft another quarterback, perhaps Georgia’s Jake Fromm or Utah State’s Jordan Love. Los Angeles could turn to free agency, where Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Marcus Mariota, or *ducks* Tom Brady could be available. (I’m mostly kidding with Brady, but if the deep internet rumors of tension with the Patriots is true, he could do a lot worse than LA’s weather.)

Suddenly, I’m really intrigued by the idea of Riley revitalizing Mariota’s once promising career. In that event, maybe Spanos should consider transporting a boatload of Hawaiians to fill some seats.

Relocation

Realistically, the Chargers are not going to move on from Rivers until he retires, nor shell out the cash for a splash hire like Riley. Honestly, I don’t think current head coach Anthony Lynn has done anything worth losing his job anyway. Furthermore, it’s highly unlikely the Chargers, or any other franchise, signs Kaepernick at this stage.

Thus, the franchise stands no chance at attracting a fanbase in Los Angeles. The long term solution for the Chargers is to find a new city to call home.

London

Why not?

Based on the recent story from the Athletic, we know the logistics of a Chargers move to London. Scheduling would be difficult; they’d likely play alternating four-game blocks in the U.S. and London. It would require a divisional realignment.

On the other hand, the Chargers would sell tickets, have an actual fanbase of their own and, most importantly, matter.

Rivers may rather retire than move his 87 children to England, though.

Toronto

If London is too far east, the Chargers may have to turn north. I hear Canada’s lovely in the fall.

Relocation to Toronto would require divisional realignment, thought the changes are fairly obvious. The Chargers would move to the AFC East, igniting a Bills-Chargers battle of Niagara Falls. The Dolphins would head to the AFC South — essentially handing the Colts the division title for the foreseeable future — and the Texans fill in the gap out west.

This would mean we get to watch Deshaun Watson v Patrick Mahomes twice per season. Roger Goodell, do something right for once in your damn life and make this happen.

San Diego

There’s no place like home.

Admittedly, there aren’t many options left in the United States. I assumed there would be at least a couple obvious cities, but with 32 franchises (two less than the NBA and MLB) and the Raiders cashing in on Vegas already, the market just isn’t there.

Among potential pioneer cities, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Portland and Orlando stand out, but only in the way J.J. Barea stands out over Isaiah Thomas. Oklahoma City is the most interesting option of the bunch, especially if combined with the hiring Sooners head coach, Lincoln Riley. Even then, the upside is limited. The best case scenario would be a small, but fiercely passionate fanbase like Green Bay. That level of dedicated local support would likely take decades of grassroots movements or immediate sustained success, which, again, the NFL doesn’t have time for.

Another U.S. option for the Chargers could be a retread city, such as St. Louis or even Oakland. I can’t envision any scenario where either of those options end up successful, though. Oakland is the Raiders’ city, regardless of whether they move to Las Vegas or not. Plus, if Spanos wouldn’t pay for a stadium in San Diego, he isn’t going to pay for a more expensive one in Oakland.

St. Louis would welcome another franchise, according to my buddy who lives just outside the city. Although, the irony of the Chargers trying to take the Rams’ old city after failing in their current city is impossible to ignore.

All in all, there’s really only one option: returning to San Diego.

San Diegans (Diegoans?) aren’t going to hold a grudge; the weather is too nice. After all, what else are they going to do with their free time? The Padres new brown uniforms (which, by the way, are spectacular) is the single most exciting thing that’s happened to the city since the Chargers left. I’m not even exaggerating.

The Chargers need to build a simple 45,000 seat stadium in San Diego and move on. There’s no need for another Jerry World or the Rams’ and Raiders’ new mega stadiums.

If Spanos and the Chargers had done more for their fans in the first place, they wouldn’t be in this precarious situation. Here’s a powerful quote from the LA Times on the day the Chargers announced their relocation to. Los Angeles:

But Spanos should remember this:  A city’s love for a team depends on the love the team shows back by investing in the community and a quality product.

The Los Angeles Times

The Chargers screwed up leaving San Diego. They shouldn’t waste another minute in a city that literally couldn’t care less about them.