McMahon Is Still in the Picture, If . . . : Chargers: Henning says Chargers’ quarterback situation far from settled. McMahon, if contract situation is settled, will battle Tolliver, Vlasic and Archer for starting job.

To see Billy Joe Tolliver as a shoo-in for the starting job of Charger quarterback next season is to see too dimly, too soon, according to Charger Coach Dan Henning.

Jim McMahon, if he returns, might be holding on to his chances to start by a threadbare rope, but it’s a rope still held by Henning.

“I see (McMahon) very much in the picture,” Henning said during a postseason wrap-up meeting with reporters Tuesday morning in Mission Valley.

McMahon, traded by the Bears for a 1990 conditional draft pick, becomes a free agent at the end of the year. According to Henning, it is up to McMahon, McMahon’s agent and the Chargers director of football operations--the position was vacated when Steve Ortmayer was fired Dec. 18--to meet and discuss the terms of a potential new contract. After that, Henning would give him a shot.

“If the contract doesn’t happen, it’s a moot point,” Henning said. “Then I’ll have to reaccess the situation without McMahon.”

But until then, Henning wants to see a good challenge for the starting spot between Tolliver, McMahon, and backups David Archer and Mark Vlasic.

“I have the liberty and the time to see this competition,” Henning said. “And I want it to be a competition. I think Billy reacts good to competition, I’m sure Jim reacts good to competition. I know David Archer does, and I have a feeling about Mark Vlasic. I feel like that position is a lot better off right now . . . and at this point in time last year I didn’t have that feeling about the position.”

But it was Tolliver’s improvement toward the end of the season that left the latest and most lasting impression on Henning and his staff.

“Based on (Tolliver’s) play at the end of the year,” said Henning, “if he can iron out some things, which there is no reason to believe he can’t, he’s the quarterback of the future here.”

It’s a future that is Tolliver’s to control. He demonstrated a strong arm and a penchant for improvement, according to Henning, but his lack of consistency has caused warning lights.

“He’s nowhere near perfect,” Henning said. “He’s not as accurate as Jim right now, but that could be through inexperience. He’s able to set a plan and make the needed corrections. He has a lot going for him.”

So much so that Henning said he would be hard pressed to come up with a comparable quarterback at a comparable age.

“I think it would be very difficult to come up with a guy with his ability, and his outlook, and the things that we picked him for, a young guy like that, who would come in and be able to outstrip him at this point in time.”

Still, Henning is a hard sell on the importance of experience, which McMahon has exceedingly more of than Tolliver.

“He’s an asset,” said Henning, “in terms of here’s a guy that has played winning football at this level.”

Should McMahon lose the starting job, Henning wouldn’t allow McMahon, whose duration depends a great deal on age (he’s 30) and injuries, to be content as a backup.

“I don’t want a guy who’s content on being a backup,” he said. “I want someone with the fire to be a starter.”

During a talk Henning had with McMahon earlier in the season, the ousted starter asked Henning if he had played himself out of the game.

“I told him he hadn’t,” Henning said. “He’s in the competition. The trade was made based on his starting, being healthy and winning . . . Now, it’s him and a young guy competing for this job.”