Chargers QB Philip Rivers was asked on Tuesday about the possibility of the team re-signing veteran TE Antonio Gates following the season-ending injury recently suffered by Hunter Henry.
“I’d always be excited if he walked back in the door,” Rivers said, per Jack Wang. “It would get my vote.”
Last week, Chargers GM Tom Telesco didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing Gates back even though he previously announced that they were moving on from him.
“We’ll look at all the options that are out there,” Telesco said when asked about Gates, per Jack Wang.
Telesco added that the loss of Henry is significant.
“I’m not going to minimize it. He’s a Pro Bowl talent with Pro Bowl intangibles,” Telesco said, per Wang. “It’s going to be harder without him, but let me be clear, we’ll adapt and move on.”
As of now, the best available tight ends include Gates, Julius Thomas, and Coby Fleener.
Gates, 37, signed on with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State back in 2003 and has spent his entire 15-year NFL career with the team. He finished out the final year of his two-year, $11 million contract that included $6 million guaranteed and a base salary of $4.5 million for the 2017 season.
Gates is testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
In 2017 Gates appeared in all 16 games and caught 30 passes for 316 yards receiving and three touchdowns for the Chargers. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 17 tight end out of 71 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 50 Available 2018 NFL Free Agents list.
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