You’re gonna need to offer something more than a “please”. A forfeit for Shaun Rogers or the Browns’ 2010 first round pick.

After Cromartie’s breakout rookie year, he has struggled through some ups and downs. How does he look this season and do you see him as an elite corner still?
I’ll start by saying this is Cro’s 3rd year and he played all of last year injured after breaking his hip in week 1. Let’s see you try to play CB with a broken hip.

Having said that, Cro started off 2009 slow and has since admitted that he was depending on his talent and not putting in the work during the week on the practice field. He dedicated himself to giving 100% during practice in Week 4 and has been one of the league’s best corners since then. A shutdown corner for sure.

Charger fans have forgotten about him for long spurts of time this season, but not because he’s been playing poorly. It’s because QBs just won’t throw at him. Quentin Jammer doesn’t get thrown on much either. After watching a few Chargers games you start wondering why TEs and RBs catch so many passes against them. Jammer and Cromartie being among the league’s best is why.

Do you regret the Chargers not re-signing Burner Turner with the benefit of hindsight?
Yes and no. Obviously, if they could swap one for the other right now they would. Anybody would. However, it was still the right call at the time. Tomlinson was coming off of a Pro Bowl season where he had about 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 18 TDs. It was a stereotypical year from LT in his prime. There was no reason to believe he would regress so quickly.

At the same time, everybody knew what Turner would become. He had strength, speed and runs smart. But he doesn’t fit the Chargers’ offense nearly as well as LT (because Turner can’t catch the ball) and the Chargers couldn’t afford to have the two highest paid RBs on the same roster. Nobody can.

Nobody disagreed with picking LT at the time. It was the right thing to do.

Despite Schottenheimer’s playoff history, didn’t you feel more comfortable with him on the sideline than Norv?
No. Not at all. First off, Marty was absolutely terrible with managing the clock. There’s a legitimate reason why “The Drive” happened against one of his teams. There’s a reason his teams didn’t have a ton of comeback wins. Marty is a fantastic motivator and has an eye for talent, but he is not a great coach.

Personnel gets you a wins during the season. Coaching gets you wins in the postseason. I say that a lot. When it got to playoff time, Marty’s weaknesses were revealed and no matter how good his team’s regular season record was (14-2 was against a ridiculously weak schedule, by the way), he never stood a chance at winning the game.

Norv Turner is a much better coach. He may run a weak camp and it may lead to slow starts during the season, but the Chargers are undefeated in December under him and damn good in November and January (during the playoffs). No other coach has had as much playoff success in the past two seasons without winning a Super Bowl.

Norv has been progress for the Chargers. Every Super Bowl is based at least a little in luck. The Chargers have had everything but the luck these past two years. In 2007, they played the undefeated Patriots and nearly won the game even though Rivers played with a torn ACL, LT played less than a quarter and Gates’ toe was just about falling off. In 2008, they played a relatively competitive game against the Steelers even though they only got 15 yards rushing as a team (which was because they had to start Sproles).

The hiring of Norv Turner after the 14-2 season sent a clear message. Regular season success means nothing. Playoff success means everything. Norv has delivered that. He also has the best winning percentage of any Chargers coach. He’s been a big improvement over Marty.

What´s Shaun Rogers worth to you?
He was worth more before he broke his leg, actually. Rogers doesn’t strike me as somebody who is going to do what it takes to stay in shape while doing the rehab. Also, he’s getting up there in age. I’d be wiling to part with a 3rd rounder for him. A 2nd rounder if he was willing to negotiate a cheaper salary.

Who else would you take off our hands?
If the Chargers didn’t have Rivers and Volek, I’d gladly take Brady Quinn. I think he’s a hell of a ballplayer. James Davis wouldn’t be turned away, but my selection would have to be the best player on the Browns….Joe Thomas. Even if I like Marcus McNeill just as much, if one of them would move over to RT it’d immediately become the most dominating offensive line in the NFL.

When Norv Turner was asked what he was worried about this week in Cleveland, he responded with “The weather”.

I’ll say this. This team has not been susceptible to trap games under Norv. Even if they come out flat against a lesser opponent, their very powerful offense can just turn on the afterburners and lead the team to victory that way.

It’s going to look worse than it is because the Chargers have some crucial injuries. Eric Weddle (arguably the D’s MVP) and Shawne Merriman (who I’m sure you’re familiar with) will both be out for the game. Jon Runyan (who signed a week ago) and Nick Hardwick (who last played in Week 1) are expected to get some time on the offensive line.

So while the Chargers are definitely looking at this game almost as if it’s a bye week, that’s not something I’m really worried about.

Ha!

which is nothing to brag about.

Is Merriman done?
Nope. Not even close. After missing an entire season he’s had a difficult time staying 100% healthy, but he’s back to being a dominating player again. He probably won’t play against Cleveland because he has an injured foot that needs rest.

Do you, like most NFL fans, view Phillip Rivers as being an ass? He is turned into a great QB, but he really shows immaturity a lot.
Nope, and I disagree 100%. Rivers has had two incidents of “immaturity”. One was when he waved goodbye to Jay Cutler at the end of a blowout along with Shaun Phillips, the other is a reported instance where he was talking trash to Colts fans during the end of a playoff game that he was knocked out of. Both of which, in my opinion, were just him having some fun along with his teammates. When asked about it, he basically said “I didn’t mean to cause attention, I was just talking trash.” Why can every other player in the league get away with it except Rivers?

Off the field, Rivers couldn’t be more mature and less of an ass. He spends his time at home raising his three kids with his wife (married at 19). He drives a minivan. See or listen to any of his interviews and you’ll get the sense that Rivers is just a normal guy.

Also, he made it a point to say, after those instances (which both occurred in 2007) that he would hold back from trash-talking because he didn’t want to cause any problems for his teammates. It has been over a season and a half without incident since.

So please, if you want to keep this perception, explain to me how Rivers shows his immaturity “a lot”.

Can we have Vincent Jackson?
Nope. He’s possibly the best WR in the league and the Chargers deserve to have him, after drafting him from a D-II college and giving him the help he needed to develop into a legitimate WR.

Do any Charger fans think like I do, that this is LT’s last season?
The sentiment going around is that he’ll retire if the Chargers win the Super Bowl. If they don’t, I could see him play for another year or two somewhere else. The rarest possibility is probably LT coming back to the Chargers in 2010.

If you could do it all over again, Rivers or Brees?
Rivers. A thousand times Rivers. Since Brees started 4 years in San Diego and Rivers is finishing up his 4th year as starter, let’s do quick comparison of those 4 seasons….

Rivers – 51-18 record, 62.7% comp., 13,487 yds, 96 TDs, 41 Int, 7.7 yards per attempt
Brees – 30-28 record, 62.2% comp., 12,127 yds, 79 TDs, 53 Int, 7 yards per attempt

Which one of those QBs would you rather have? Not only did everyone know that Rivers had the ability to be much better than Brees, but he was younger, stronger, taller and tougher. Not only that, but Brees’ fate was sealed when he injured his throwing shoulder badly enough to need surgery in the last game before he hit free agency. The Chargers offered him a fair deal, the same one he got from New Orleans, but he left because he didn’t want to compete with Philip.

It was absolutely the right move and Rivers is on pace to be a better QB than Brees for his career.

The Chargers love giving up easy TDs at the end of the first half or the beginning of the second half. They slip into an easy zone defense that any decent QB can rip apart easily.

They’re all UFA’s, along with a few other big names (like LT Marcus McNeill) if a new CBA is in place, which there won’t be. Without it, Sproles is the only UFA. So, let’s run both scenarios….

without CBA:
Merriman – 100%
Jackson – 100%
McNeill – 100%
Sproles – 50%

with CBA:
Merriman – 50%
Jackson – 95%
McNeill – 90%
Sproles – 50%

I think LT will either be traded or released in the offseason. He is under contract for one more season, for not a lot of money. However, as a 10 and 6 guy, he reserves the right to turn down any trade. I think the likeliest scenario is retirement.

Awesome.

I wouldn’t know.

the browns’ sight says it will be broadcast