Chargers Might Deal for Rypien
The Chargers are still acknowledging the possibility of a three-team deal that could bring them Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien.
“It’s an idea,” Steve Ortmayer said Thursday. “It’s something we might consider. But I haven’t talked to anybody about it today, and I don’t expect anything to happen in the next 48 hours.” Ortmayer is the Chargers’ director of football operations.
The genesis of the deal stemmed from talks between the Chargers, the Redskins and the Atlanta Falcons last month at the National Football League owners’ meetings.
The Atlanta Constitution reported Thursday that former Pro Bowl running back Gerald Riggs wants to be traded amid speculation the Falcons have decided to make running back John Settle, a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie last year, the future of their running game.
The Constitution quoted sources close to Riggs and the Falcons saying the Chargers have offered their first-round pick (eighth overall) to the Falcons in exchange for Riggs. According to the report, the Chargers would then ship Riggs to Washington for Rypien or quarterback Stan Humphries (both are backups), an unnamed offensive lineman and a second-round pick in the NFL draft April 23.
Rypien and Humphries have worked closely with new Charger Coach Dan Henning, who was an offensive assistant with the Redskins last year.
Asked if he thought either quarterback plus an unnamed offensive lineman plus a second-rounder were worth giving up the No. 8 pick in the draft, Ortmayer said, “I don’t want to comment on that.”
The Chargers are known to be looking for a quarterback. Their starter at the end of the 1988 season was Mark Malone, who finished with the lowest listed quarterback rating in the American Football Conference for the second consecutive year. The Chargers have hopes for the return of quarterback Mark Vlasic, who was 2-0 as a starter during the Chargers’ 6-10 1988 season. But Vlasic is still recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. His status for 1989 is uncertain.
The Chargers also have major draft needs at offensive line, linebacker and secondary.
Asked about the current status of the Riggs-Charger-Redskin deal, Ortmayer said, “It was left nowhere. It was left as an idea.”
Such a deal would leave the Falcons with the Nos. 5 and 8 picks in the first round.
Rypien started five games for the Redskins last year after spending the 1986 and 1987 seasons on injured reserve because of knee injuries. Replacing Doug Williams, Rypien lost his first two starts and won his next two before suffering bruised ribs against Green Bay in Milwaukee.
He finished the year with a quarterback rating of 85.2, which would have placed him fifth in the NFC if he had the minimum of 224 completions necessary to qualify for the season-ending rating standings. He completed 114 of 208 passes for 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Humphries, a sixth-rounder from Northeast Louisiana, spent his rookie season (1988) on injured reserve with a blood disorder called thrombocytopenia. Meanwhile Humphries has reportedly ballooned to 240 pounds during the off-season.
Sources in Washington say the hang-up on the deal could be the Chargers’ insistence on getting Rypien rather than Humphries.
Meanwhile, the Chargers continue their normal draft preparations. Today they will attend workouts in Los Angeles for about 25 players. Among those players will be UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman, who will probably be the first player selected in the draft. Dallas owns the No. 1 pick.
Ortmayer said he and a handful of other teams have contacted the Cowboys about trading up to get a shot at Aikman. He says the Cowboys have not yet decided whether they want Aikman for themselves or whether they want to trade him.
“I’ve asked them (the Cowboys) to tell us what they need,” Ortmayer said. “And that’s where it was left.” Other teams believed to be interested in trading up for Aikman include Green Bay and Kansas City.
USC quarterback Rodney Peete also might be at the workout today. But Ortmayer said Peete might have a schedule conflict. This is the same workout that the Charger staff used last year to make a final determination on Tennessee wide receiver Anthony Miller, whom they selected with the 15th pick of the first round.
Ortmayer said the Chargers are getting an increasing number of phone calls from other teams interested in trading up for their No. 8 pick. “There’s some anxiety on the part of other people,” Ortmayer said. “I think they think the draft breaks right about where we are.”
Charger Notes
The Chargers have brought in LSU wide receiver Eric Hill and Pittsburgh defensive end Burt Grossman for physical tests, and they may do the same with Nebraska linebacker Broderick Thomas and Georgia running back Tim Worley. All four of those players are projected to go among the first 10 in the first round of the NFL draft. . . . Charger assistant Bobby Jackson attended a workout Wednesday for Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders.