“Look the ball in, son!” D’at a boy!”
Chris Chambers was at practice on Thursday in San Diego to show off his skills with his new bye-week squad and was feelin’ right at home. All except for his new jersey number, which changes from #84 to #89. Otherwise, the system he left in Miami — former Charger coordinator Cam Cameron’s — was basically a cut-n-paste deal for both Chambers and the Chargers.
The Chargers couldn’t balk at gaining a talent such as his, even at a price and by way of methods that typically make the team squeamish — multi-million dollar players that don’t come via the draft.
“I’ve always said I believe in the draft and in signing your own guys, but I’ve also said you build a team by any means possible,” Charger GM A.J Smith said. “I think we’re a playoff-caliber team. Now it’s a matter of what you can do. This was all about the availability of Chris Chambers. I felt he will help us immensely.”
Part of the attraction for the Chargers was that Chambers is locked up through 2009. He becomes the 36th Chargers player under contract through ‘09, including 18 offensive and defensive starters plus both kickers.
That was important to Smith, who said he would have hesitated to do the deal were Chambers in the final year of his contract. [LINK TO THE STORY]
The only thing that’s got me a bit squeamish is that Mr. David Boston owned #89 a few years-a-go for the blue and gold…..and that worked out wonderfully! And, uh, he was a high-paid, non-home-grown signing…..
