It took a season-ending ACL tear for Hunter Henry to open the door for Antonio Gates‘ return to the Chargers in 2018 and it’s not clear what it will take for Gates to play a 17th season for the team.
After the Chargers were ousted from the playoffs, Gates said he would like to play another year with the team but there’s been no word about conversations between the two sides this offseason. Head coach Anthony Lynn said the door isn’t closed, but indicated the question of Gates’ return might remain on the back burner for a while.
“It’s absolutely a possibility,” Lynn said from the league meetings on Tuesday. “We have to look and see where we are at free-agent wise and money-wise, and just see how some of these things work out. We kind of explained that to him, so we’re just in kind of wait-and-see mode right now.”
Lynn said he has no doubt that Henry will be ready to go for the offseason program, which isn’t a great surprise given the fact that he returned to action in the playoffs. Virgil Green and Sean Culkin are also on hand at tight end in Los Angeles.