SAN DIEGO -- Ryan Leaf is no longer the San Diego Chargers' headache.
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Tired of his many distractions, the Chargers finally gave Leaf
the heave-ho Wednesday after three turbulent seasons that saw
the bad-boy quarterback hurl more interceptions and profanities
than touchdown passes.
While Leaf was in Tahiti on his honeymoon, new Chargers general
manager John Butler began tearing apart the NFL's worst team by
getting rid of Leaf and four others, including guard Kevin Gogan.
Butler declined to give specific reasons for the moves, other
than to say they were organizational decisions and would give the
players a chance to catch on elsewhere because free agency begins
Friday.
Leaf's agent, Leigh Steinberg, knew the move was coming.
"I had prepared him for the fact that he probably would not be
with the Chargers next season," said Steinberg, who added that
Leaf hadn't yet heard the news.
Coach Mike Riley said he was disappointed because he had hoped
to help turn around Leaf.
"All these things are accumulative, and you talk about it for a
long, long time," Riley said, referring to Leaf's numerous
distractions. "We all realize his ability but we also have to look
out for what might be better for the team and the long run. It's a
move that we were obviously comfortable in making."
The Chargers apparently didn't receive any trade offers for
Leaf.
The Chargers had high hopes when they took Leaf with the second
choice overall in the 1998 draft, right after Indianapolis took
Peyton Manning. Instead, Leaf responded with poor play and boorish
behavior.
Leaf leaves the Chargers with a 4-14 record as a starter, having
thrown 33 interceptions and just 13 touchdown passes. The Chargers
still owe him the final $2.95 million installment of his $11.25
million signing bonus, which was part of a deal potentially worth
$31.25 million that he signed in July 1998.
The Chargers will take a $3.8 million hit against the salary cap
by releasing Leaf, but are off the hook on a $500,000 roster bonus
that would have been due Thursday.
The Chargers also released cornerbacks DeRon Jenkins and Darryll
Lewis, and running back Robert Chancey.
The Chargers signed quarterback Dave Dickenson from the Calgary
Stampeders to a two-year contract just a few hours before releasing
Leaf. Dickenson preceded Leaf as quarterback at Charles M. Russell
High in Great Falls, Mont., in the early 1990s, and the two lived
just a few blocks apart.
"It's kind of ironic, the timing of it," Dickenson said from
Calgary, where he had played in the CFL for five years. "From the
outside looking in, it probably was the best thing for him. It just
happens that I felt my opportunity was in San Diego, and I'm going
to try and make that team. Whether he was there or not, I'm going
to come in with the same mindset."
Dickenson will earn close to the NFL minimum salaries, but the
contract has performance bonuses that could make it worth $2.45
million.
The Chargers own the top pick in April's draft and are known to
be extremely interested in Michael Vick, the sensational
quarterback who is leaving Virginia Tech after two seasons. The
Chargers also are likely to sign a veteran NFL free agent.
After being benched midway through his troubled rookie season,
Leaf missed all of the 1999 season with a shoulder injury.
He seemed to have gotten his career back on track when he won
back the starting job last summer. But he was benched after
throwing five interceptions and just one TD in the first two games.
Although he started the final six games, he never did regain the
respect of his teammates.
One of the clinchers came when reports surfaced last season that
Leaf played golf even while telling the team his sprained right
wrist was too sore to practice or play.
Leaf even managed to get in trouble when he was sidelined after
shoulder surgery in 1999. During training camp he was forced away
from a confrontation with a heckler, and that November he was
suspended for four weeks without pay for shouting obscenities at
then-general manager Bobby Beathard.
"During my career I've never seen a player that had so much
talent do so little with it," said Beathard, who built Super Bowl
teams with Washington and San Diego. He retired last spring.
Leaf's downfall began just three games into his rookie season.
He screamed obscenities at a reporter during a locker room blowup,
portions of which were caught on videotape.
"That set an image and a tone for the way in which he was
perceived," Steinberg said. "That was difficult to erase."
Steinberg thinks Leaf still has the potential for a great
career.
"Clearly, teams will be interested but the process will have to
be an extremely careful and extremely meticulous one," he said,
pointing out that Kerry Collins went from troubled quarterback to
leading the New York Giants into the Super Bowl.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 With Ryan Leaf gone, who's going to run the Chargers' offense? ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. looks at their options.
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ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. on the downward spiral of Ryan Leaf.
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