By Kevin Acee Monday, October 11, 2010 at 8:12 p.m. The Chargers were surprised to hear an ESPN report that Marcus McNeill has agreed to terms on a five-year contract extension. But negotiations are close enough to finished that someone tipped the network the deal has been agreed to. "That's not the case," General Manager A.J. Smith said when asked about the report. "If there is something to report we'll let you know." The sides have been talking since shortly after McNeill signed his tender on Sept. 25 and are expected to resume going over some final negotiating points Tuesday. But word leaking likely signals those points won't be an issue. After refusing his one-year $3.168 million tender as a restricted free agent, McNeill sat out training camp and the preseason, as well as the first two games. He has been practicing with the team the past three weeks while serving out his time on the Roster Exempt List and was added to the active roster on Monday. He said when he signed it was with the belief the Chargers would give him a new contract, and indications from the team were that a deal would get done quickly. McNeill will take snaps with the No.1 offense beginning Wednesday with the belief he will be ready to start Sunday at St. Louis. While that might eventually cause a ripple effect on the other side of the line, it seems likely Jeromey Clary’s job at right tackle is safe for the time being. “Brandyn is going to get ready to play left tackle,” Turner said. “So, I don’t know if we could get him ready to play another position right now.”
