CHargers TE Wants to Keep San Diego a Gate'd Community

Chargers TE Antonio Gates is up for a contract renewal soon and when he heard the news about Buccaneers TE Kellen Winslow Jr.'s deal he must have been smiling from ear to ear. Winslow's 6-year $36 Million deal with $20.1 Million guaranteed is the richest contract for a tight end, and Winslows numbers aren't even close to the stats put up by Gates.

Gates has said that he doesn't want to rob the Chargers, and that it is important that he remain in San Diego, but Gates' agent Tom Condon, who also represents Ladainian Tomlinson, won't let his client sign a sub-par contract and he isn't know for giving any team a break.

"I've been a San Diegan for six years now, and I no longer bleed red," Gates said. "I bleed powder blue. So any time you talk about something that's sincere to your heart, any time your soul gets involved in a situation, you know you don't want to leave it. I want to be here. I want to be a part of this. That's my stance."

The last time these parties locked horns it was contentious. Gates had to sit out the 2005 opener, a Chargers loss; they missed the playoffs by one game that year, on his way to getting his six-year, $22 million deal.

"It was complicated then, and hopefully it won't be in the future," Gates said. Gates had since switched agents, but the one representing him now, the aformentioned Condon, is among the toughest in the business.