Chargers Sign Bucs’ Guard as Plan B Grinds to a Halt

The Chargers announced Saturday they signed their ninth and likely last Plan B free agent with the addition of offensive guard Mike Simmonds from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The news came on the same day the Chargers lost their sixth Plan B player when tight end Chris Gannon signed a two-year contract with the New England Patriots, his agent Mark Bartelstein said.

Gannon, 6-feet-6 and 265 pounds, had been signed by the Chargers after he was cut by New England before last season’s first game. Gannon, 24, was a 1989 third-round draft choice of the Patriots. He was the Chargers deep snapper, but he spent the last six weeks of the season on injured reserve after knee surgery.

Coach Dan Henning had said when the team left him unprotected two months ago that the Chargers were hoping teams would shy away from Gannon because of his injury.

Simmonds, 6-feet-4 and 285 pounds, played in only five games over three seasons with Tampa Bay because of injuries.

Drafted in the 10th round out of Indiana State, Simmonds spent the 1987 season on the injured reserve list with a broken leg. He also spent the 1988 season on injured reserve, this time with a knee injury. Simmonds, 25, started the first five games last season before another knee injury put him on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Simmonds is the third offensive lineman to sign with the Chargers under Plan B. The others are Mark Rodenhauser, a center and long snapper from the Minnesota Vikings, and Tom Toth, a guard from the Miami Dolphins.

They join kicker John Carney from Tampa Bay, running back Joe Mickles from Washington, safety Bruce Plummer from Indianapolis, running back Thomas Sanders from Chicago, and running back Ronnie Harmon and punter John Kidd from Buffalo as the Chargers’ Plan B acquisitions.

The Chargers have lost five other players to Plan B: punter Hank Ilesic to the Rams, offensive tackle Brett Miller to the New York Jets, cornerback Elliot Smith to Denver, and linebacker Joe Campbell and offensive tackle James FitzPatrick to the Raiders.

The signing period for Plan B players ends today, and team spokesman Bill Johnston said the Chargers do not expect further signings.

The Chargers also announced they have signed offensive tackle Eric Floyd and wide receiver-return specialist Eric Yarber. Both are free agents who were with the team last year.

Floyd, 6-feet-5 and 300 pounds, has been cut from the Chargers training camp each of the past two seasons.

Yarber, 5-feet-8 1/2 and 152 pounds, was signed by the Chargers as a Plan B player last year after three seasons with Washington, but he was released before training camp because of a knee injury.