The San Diego Chargers have placed the franchise tag on running back Darren Sproles, guaranteeing him a deal worth $6.62 million this year, unless a long term deal is reached.
Sproles has spent the bulk of his three years in San Diego as a kick returner and backup to LaDainian Tomlinson. However, the running back was thrust into the spotlight late in the season last year, due to a Tomlinson injury, and certainly didn’t disappoint. Sproles put up back to back 100+ rushing yard games, headlined by an impressive performance against the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs, gaining over 320 all purpose yards, and scoring two touchdowns including the game winner in overtime.
By tagging Sproles, the Chargers have created a solid fallback option should they not be able to reach an agreement on a renegotiated deal with Tomlinson. Sproles, however, will not immediately sign the tendered offer, thus allowing the running back to speak with other teams to guague interest in a possible trade. Since it would require two first round draft picks as compensation for signing Sproles away, any interested team would likely try to work out a trade should they seek to acquire the running back.
However, both Sproles and his agent have professed a desire to work out a long term contract for the back to remain with the Chargers. And, since the salary cap hit would be lessened by a multi-year deal, it’s expected that San Diego will accomodate that desire.
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