The San Diego (for the moment, anyway) Chargers sure have a lot on their plate.

In the coming days there is the decision about where they will play in 2017 — wherever they might end up, be it back in Mission Valley or joining the Rams in Los Angeles — and who the next head coach will be.

Somewhere down the lengthy to-do list also is the question of sorting out Manti Te’o’s future with the Chargers.

After four seasons in San Diego, the 2012 Heisman Trophy runner-up is a free agent this winter, and it will be interesting to see if the Chargers remain as heavily invested in their injury-cursed linebacker.

They were more willing than the rest of the NFL to not only ignore much of the ambient noise surrounding the infamous catfishing episode and project him as a starter but also invest two draft choices to make sure they landed him in the second round of the 2013 draft.

In their first draft for the Chargers, general manager Tom Telesco and then-head coach Mike McCoy saw Te’o for what he was, a productive and inspirational defender who had been the backbone of Notre Dame’s rise to the national championship game.

He was so coveted that the Chargers sent Arizona a fourth-round pick to move up seven spots in the second round and select Te’o as the 38th overall player in the 2013 draft, dismissing much of the concern about so-called “distractions” that kept other teams from taking him earlier.

And, when he was healthy, Te’o largely delivered. He started 34 of the 38 games he played. In 2014 he became an every-down linebacker and in 2015 led the Chargers in overall and solo tackles.

Teammates, who admired Te’o’s dedication to his craft and the team, voted him defensive team captain for 2016. Younger players looked upon him as a mentor.

But a series of confounding injuries, including fractures of each foot (right in 2013 and left in 2014) and ankle and foot ailments, have combined to keep him out of almost 40 percent of the team’s games in his career.

It has been a turn of events that has been as curious as it has been painful for Te’o, who played in all 51 games at Notre Dame and hadn’t missed a game on any level since his junior year at Punahou School.

Coming into the 2016 season Te’o had pronounced himself, “more ready than I’ve ever been.” But the biggest injury, a non-contact Achilles tendon tear, was right around the corner in the third game, resulting in season-ending surgery that cost him 13 games.

Meanwhile, one of Te’o’s proteges, rookie Jatavis Brown, stepped in and led the Chargers in tackles.

So, Telesco and whoever ends up being the Chargers’ new head coach have some thinking to do. Whatever the Chargers decide, Te’o, who turns 26 this month, will undoubtedly still get offers. But the injuries figure to have a significant impact on the contract offered.

Te’o already took a financial hit in his rookie contract when he fell out of the first round of the draft and 2017 was supposed to be where he recouped it.

By way of comparison, Alec Ogletree, the Rams’ 30th overall pick and the last linebacker taken in the first round of the 2013 draft, received more than $7 million then (versus Te’o’s $5.17 million) and has had his 2017 option picked up, worth $8.4 million.

Now, wherever Te’o’s deal comes from, it is likely to be less lucrative, and structured more along the lines of having to prove himself all over again.

When the Chargers drafted Te’o it seemed as though he and San Diego were a good match for a lot of reasons and many seasons. In the coming weeks we will see if either Te’o or the Chargers remain there.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.