The New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints have been the smartest spenders in the NFL over the past five seasons, according to a study by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg calculates how much teams spent per win and added bonuses for playoffs wins and championships.

1. New England Patriots
2. Green Bay Packers
3. New York Giants
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. San Diego Chargers
9. Atlanta Falcons
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Arizona Cardinals
12. Tennessee Titans 
13. New York Jets
14. Dallas Cowboys
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. Chicago Bears
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
18. San Francisco 49ers
19. Houston Texans
20. Minnesota Vikings
21. Denver Broncos
22. Cincinnati Bengals
23. Seattle Seahawks
24. Carolina Panthers
25. Kansas City Chiefs
26. Miami Dolphins
27. Buffalo Bills
28. Cleveland Browns
29. Washington Redskins
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Detroit Lions
32. St. Louis Rams 

The San Diego Chargers disappointingly missed the 2011 NFL Playoffs.

For a team that needed change, general manager A.J. Smith decided to add more than a dozen veteran free agents.

The Chargers have never been big spenders in free agency during Smith's tenure.

Philip Rivers and Eric Weddle both said that the new additions have been a welcome change.

The Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens have the three oldest collections of starters in the NFL. 

The Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and Cincinnati Bengals are the youngest.

Former Vikings head coach Bud Grant had a popular saying that "for every young guy you start, you lose a game."

Pete Carroll worked for Grant early in his coaching career, but has had one of the youngest teams in the NFL during his tenure with the Seahawks.

"I was of that mindset in classic fashion until I had to be in charge of calling all the shots and then it just flipped in me that we don't know where we're going unless we find these guys out," Carroll said. "One of the really exciting things about playing guys early is ... by the middle and to the end of the season, you’ve developed players that fit into your rotations now that add to your depth and also add to the opportunity to not over-play your older guys." 

Below is a full list with the rank in offense/defense in parenthesis.

1. Atlanta Falcons (2/5)
2. San Diego Chargers (7/3)
3. Baltimore Ravens (1/15)
4. Chicago Bears (11/4)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (25/1)
6. New York Jets (23/2)
7. New York Giants (9/2)
8. Detroit Lions (3/20)
9. New Orleans Saints (6/13)
10. San Francisco 49ers (8/8)
11. Denver Broncos (14/7)
12. Houston Texans (4/23)
13. Oakland Raiders (13/11)
14. Buffalo Bills (12/17)
15. Arizona Cardinals (16/14)
16. Washington Redskins (21/9)
17. Dallas Cowboys (18/16)
18. New England Patriots (5/28)
19. Green Bay Packers (17/21)
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (24/19)
21. Miami Dolphins (26/18)
22. Carolina Panthers (15/26)
23. Indianapolis Colts (28/10)
24. Philadelphia Eagles (19/25)
25. Tennessee Titans (10/31)
26. Minnesota Vikings (30/12)
27. St. Louis Rams (22/27)
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20/30)
29. Cleveland Browns (31/24)
30. Cincinnati Bengals (32/22)
31. Seattle Seahawks (29/29)
32. Kansas City Chiefs (27/32) 

The Chargers may be without their starting left tackle for Week 1 against the Raiders, as Jared Gaither underwent an MRI on Tuesday for an undisclosed injury.

Gaither was claimed off waivers last November from the Chiefs and signed a four-year deal in the offseason.

The Bears have the best uniforms in the NFL, according to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch.

"True, the helmet design is starting to look a tad dated," writes Lukas. "But the striped sleeves, striped socks (now a rarity in the NFL, alas), unique number font, and even the perma-memorial to Papa Bear all score major points, and the Bears may be the only team in the league who look as sharp on the road as they do at home. The cream of the NFL crop."

The Packers, Steelers, Raiders and Eagles round out the top-five.

"Just suit up, baby," writes Lukas about the Raiders. "Silver and black look just as good today as they did when Al Davis came up with them. There's probably some marketer out there who wants the team to dress up like the fans in the Black Hole (and hey, that actually could be fun as a one-off thing), but you don't mess with something this elemental. Also: The Raiders are among the few NFL teams that wisely have declined to adopt the new Nike collar format."

6. Cowboys
7. Bills
8. 49ers
9. Dolphins
19. Buccaneers
11. Chiefs
12. Chargers
13. Jets
14. Colts
15. Patriots
16. Browns
17. Redskins
18. Giants
19. Titans 
20. Texans
21. Rams
22. Saints
23. Ravens
24. Broncos
25. Falcons
26. Lions
27. Seahawks
28. Jaguars
29. Cardinals
30. PAnthers
31. Vikings
32. Bengals 

The Chargers have revealed that Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates will not play in Friday night's preseason game against the Vikings.

Gates is healthy and Norv Turner wants to make sure the tight end remains so heading into the regular season.

Rivers will sit so that San Diego can get a good look at Charlie Whitehurst.

"Charlie is going to start, and I'm anxious to watch him in a starting role," Turner said. "It's something we may be in the position during the regular season that we have to do that, and it's a good experience for him."

Junior Seau had no alcohol or illegal drugs in his system when he shot himself in the chest earlier this year.

The San Diego County medical examiner's office released the full autopsy results for the 43-year-old former NFL linebacker.

The report said Seau did have Zolpidem, used to treat insomnia, and traces of Naproxen, a common drug used to relieve pain and stiffness, in his system when he died.

The Chargers have four players in ESPN's Top-200, led by Philip Rivers at No. 23. Rivers was ranked No. 7 amongst quarterbacks.

Antonio Gates (43), Eric Weddle (72) and Ryan Mathews (130) were San Diego's other representatives.

The Chargers had a joint practice with the Cowboys on Monday.

One positive of the day was the connection between Philip Rivers and Robert Meachem. San Diego signed Meachem to a four-year contract during the offseason.

“For all the people that are quick to jump on Robert Meachem and my progress, during practices today we connected on about 15 balls. Things are improving.”

Chargers wide receiver Vincent Brown left Saturday night's preseason game against the Cowboys after catching an 18-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Whitehurst.

Brown left the game with two catches for 31 yards.

Brown, a 2011 third round pick, broke his left ankle on the play and will miss at least eight weeks.