Antonio Gates has spent his entire 16-year NFL career with the Chargers organization, and there may be a chance that he'll be back for a 17th.
Chargers general manager Tom Telesco has not closed the door of bringing back the all-time great tight end for 2019, saying that the team has been talking with Gates.
“We’ve had a good amount of private talks with him, but nothing I want to talk about publicly yet,” said Telesco, according to Gilbert Manzano of The Orange County Register. “Take that however you want it.”
Gates played in all 16 games this past season, but was largely unproductive, logging just 28 catches for 333 yards and a couple of touchdowns. His impact in 2017 was also very limited, as he finished with 30 catches for 316 yards and three scores.
The 39-year-old, who played college basketball at Kent State, eventually landed with the Bolts as a free agent in 2003.
Even though he did not play any football in college, Gates quickly developed into one of the league's best tight ends, making the Pro Bowl and earning a First-Team All-Pro selection in his second season after hauling in 81 receptions for 964 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Gates would go on to make eight straight Pro Bowls overall between 2004 and 2011, also notching First-Team All-Pro honors three consecutive years between 2004 and 2006. He twice registered over 1,000 yards, recording 1,101 yards in 2005 and 1,157 yards in 2009.
He remained an elite tight end through 2014, when he caught 69 passes for 821 yards and 12 scores, but since then, Gates has been on a rapid decline, and even if he does return to the Chargers this year, it's hard to imagine he'll have that large of a role in the offense.
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