San Diego Chargers: The LT Quandry

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The San Diego Chargers are a hot mess. Things are kind of working out for them right now -- Darren Sproles has been franchised and there should be some sort of resolution to LaDainian Tomlinson in the near future -- but there's still a good chance that A.J. Smith screws the proverbial pooch on handling his real franchise player.

No, not Philip Rivers -- although he's really, really good, turning in an MVP caliber quarterbacking season on a relatively shoddy Charger squad. Tomlinson.

The guy is the face of the franchise and has managed, almost single-handedly, to take the phrase "blown out by Steve Young in Super Bowl XXIX" away from the team when it comes to professional football name recognition in San Diego. Yet, somehow, there's a legitimate issue as to whether he'll be a Charger heading into the 2009 season.

Free Agents: Kynlan Forney (URA), Mike Goff (URA), Jeremy Newberry (URA), Igor Olshansky (URA), Malcolm Floyd (RFA), Cletis Gordon (RFA)

Draft Picks: 1 (16), 3 (78), 4 (109), 5 (140), 6 (176), 7 (207)

Needs

1. Defensive End. Igor Olshansky has basically stated that he won't be returning to the Chargers (and they kind of said the same thing, when they franchised Darren Sproles), so look for him to sign elsewhere. Presuming that LdT has his contract worked out, it's logical that Chargers could take an end with the No. 16 pick.

OR ... and bear with me on this ... what if the Chargers (who run a 3-4) traded Tomlinson and the 16th-overall pick for Julius Peppers and Jonathan Stewart? Or some mutation of that. Maybe I'm insane (I am) but that seems like some sort of deal that could work to make all parties happy.

OR ... the Chargers could just draft Tyson Jackson at 16.

2. Running Back? Smith claims he's coming back in town to really lock up LdT, but the truth of the matter is that if Tomlinson won't agree to take less money, the team could always still cut him. Or trade him. Now if that trade doesn't involve getting a running back in return (see above) the Chargers will be forced to add an additional back to help out Sproles. Fred Taylor would certainly be a possibility, and Knowshon Moreno and Beanie Wells are also considered possibilities. Additionally, the Chargers could trade up to the early second round and attempt to pick up someone like Andre Brown as an insurance policy.

3. Linebacker. Sure, you could say that Shawne Merriman just needs to get healthy, but you could also say that he needs more steroids (it's fun because he actually got busted, you know?) And as a result of the way that the Chargers played defense last year (read: not great), it seems kind of imperative that they shore up that position. Doing so via the draft seems like the most logical conclusion; if they ink Olshansky and keep Tomlinson on board, don't be surprised to see them address this in the draft. Even if Olshansky walks, they could still trade back up into the first round and target someone like Rey Maualuga.