Originally posted by Heatmiser
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Over the last 25-30 years they have one of the most well developed and well known UDFA pipelines in the NFL...whether it's been signing bonuses or not I don't know but guys that already know that they will go undrafted are well aware that the chargers are one of the best teams in the NFL to get a legit shot to stick around...and you are correct, that system goes way back and may even pre date the aj smith era because I remember that under beathard they did a lot of stuff in UDRFA too...
That said, AJ Smith was outspoken about the value of UDFA so he was definitely a person that supported or expanded what the chargers did with UDFAs...I remember reading the post draft reports in the 2000s and a lot of teams where bringing in a select 5-7 high profile UDFAs that mostly came from big time schools, the chargers were casting a wider net and bringing in a bunch of small school guys that no one was interested in...there was a time there during the AJ Smith era when they would routinely sign 18-22 of these guys every single year...
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