When the Chargers signed Brandon Mebane in March, it was virtually a 2-for-1 deal.

Mebane and Antonio Gates.

Gates, talking this week about why he spurned Super Bowl contenders that he’d heard had interest in him, said it was no coincidence that he re-upped with the Chargers soon after Mebane reached terms.

He figured Mebane would help him get to a Super Bowl, the nose tackle having gone there twice with the Seahawks.


“I watched closely what was taking place,” said Gates, who at 36 is closer to the end of his career than the start, “and I just wanted to make sure that the approach was in the right direction for us to have an opportunity. Because I understand my window was closing.

“So, I said this is going to be something interesting. He’s a proven player in this league. It was kind of like getting a Jamal Williams-type dude. I said, we’re moving in the right direction.”

Cornerback Casey Hayward’s arrival also heartened Gates, as did other personnel moves including the return of right tackle Joe Barksdale and addition of speedster Travis Benjamin.

The team’s 4-12 record last year didn’t cause him to relocate his Super Bowl quest, said Gates, because the struggles reflected to some degree a season-ending injury to Keenan Allen and the injury-caused-flux within the offensive line.


“I knew that the record doesn’t really say enough about what kind of team we had,” he said.

There were sentimental reasons Gates came back, too. He wanted to finish his career where it began, alongside Philip Rivers, his longtime quarterback and locker-room neighbor.

And yet, had Gates signed with one of the teams he’d heard had interest in him – a group that included 2015 playoff squads like the Panthers, Packers and Steelers – he would’ve been far from unique.

Consider the case of the tight end most similar to Gates: Tony Gonzalez, who like Gates was a former college basketball star who became a prolific NFL pass-catcher.


After the 2008 season, Gonzalez asked the Chiefs to trade him to a playoff contender. He’d been selected to nine Pro Bowls – one more than Gates – but never had won a playoff game in his nine years with Kansas City, his draft team.

The Chiefs sent Gonzalez, then 33, to the Falcons; together they went to the playoffs three times in five seasons.

In the 2013 postseason, Gonzalez made a huge catch against the Seahawks that got the Falcons to within one victory of the Super Bowl. But a loss to the 49ers sent him out of the locker room, for good, and into a broadcasting job.

Gonzalez still holds the NFL record for most career touchdown catches by a tight end, with 111.


Gates, the runner-up, is seven behind him.

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In the contract talks last winter, the request from Gates was that the Chargers pay him in the ballpark of what Gonzalez got from the Falcons.

A two-year, $11-million deal was reached, guaranteeing Gates $6 million.


As Gates tells it, the talks were amiable.

“They sent over an offer because that’s what they do. Other than that, it was smooth sailing,” he said. “It was easy. They know I wanted to be here. I expressed my interest in staying. Didn’t even bother talking to another team. Because this is my home, man; this is who I am.

“I’m like, ‘C’mon, you want me to go to another team and catch eight touchdown passes? It doesn’t even make sense.’ ”

Ideally for Gates, he’ll pass Gonzalez this season.


Then he’ll proceed on to the playoffs and his first Super Bowl and thus show that, with a nod to Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison, not all great recent Bolts need to leave the club to get to the NFL’s biggest game.