Seems like there are a lot of unhappy faces these days among San Diego Chargers players, one of them being Eric Weddle, who wants to get a contract extension signed as soon as possible.
Weddle, a two-time All-Pro safety, is entering the final season of his contract, in which he makes $7.5 million coming with a cap hit of $10.1 million. The 30-year old safety, an All-Pro and Pro Bowler last season, wants to spend the rest of his career with the Chargers, but obviously wants to see the same kind of commitment from them, translated into a generous contract offer.
So far he and the team haven’t begun official talks regarding the contract. Feeling disrespected by the team, Weddle has skipped the voluntary workouts and probably plans on staying away from the offseason workouts until some progress is made. Despite no obligation, Weddle often takes part in these sessions, and obviously is being very vocal about his reason not to attend.
I feel highly, highly disrespected. It is what it is, but there is no reason for me to put out any more effort. I’ve never missed a day in my life. I’ve given so much. I want to retire a Charger. We’ve come to them numerous times and said we want to be part of the team, we want to retire as a Charger. We’ve completely gotten pushed aside.
His agent did approach the Chargers before the beginning of the previous season in attempt to get a deal done but got rejecred. Now we’re just one season away from his contract expiring, and there still is no movement regarding his deal. Weddle has missed only four games since 2007, and has played in all 16 five consecutive seasons.
He is expecting to be paid like one of the best in his position, which means north of $8 million a season. If the Chargers do think that giving that kind of money to a player over 30 is too much of a reach, this whole uncomfortable situation between a team and a defensive captain might carry on, while the Rivers contract negotiations are moving slowly as well.