Los Angeles Chargers: Two recent cuts that would fit nicely in LA
By Jason Reed
2. Rick Wagner
The Los Angeles Chargers have already improved the offensive line this offseason and the official league year has not even begun. Tom Telesco flipped left tackle Russell Okung for four-time Pro Bowler Trai Turner, giving the Chargers a better asset on the offensive line that is under contract for an extra season.
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While Turner makes the team exponentially better in the interior of the offensive line, trading Okung creates a pretty big need at left tackle. However, it is not a need that the front office hasn’t been preparing for, as Okung hardly played in 2019 and his future with the team was already unclear.
The Chargers could spend big in free agency, they could draft a tackle in the first round or they could look to go with a cheaper option. The team really has a lot of different routes it could go and a new one emerged in the wave of cuts in Rick Wagner.
Wagner has played exclusively right tackle for the Detroit Lions prior to being cut and he could slot in at right tackle for the Chargers, sliding promising rookie Trey Pipkins to left tackle, or could even make the transition to left tackle.
Better yet, although Pipkins was promising last season, the Chargers could sign Wagner on a cheap contract to be the team’s starting right tackle and then select a left tackle with one of the first two picks in the NFL Draft.
Whichever way the team goes, Wagner could be a relatively cheap option to help the offensive line and allow the team to do other things as well.