LA Chargers: Ranking the odds of 2021 free agents re-signing

Desmond King

This is the part of the rankings where we start to move into toss-up territory. King had a generally poor 2019 in a lot of respects. He wasn’t as good of a tackler as he’d been previously, regressed in coverage, and was outright bad when it came to special teams.

Deciding the fate of King becomes even more challenging when considering the Chris Harris signing. We know King won’t be playing the slot as that role has effectively gone to the former Bronco. In addition to that, it’s really still a huge unknown as to what specific role King will play this season.

Some have suggested that he should play dimebacker, which was Adrian Phillips’ role before he departed to New England. Another view of his potential role is that he’ll effectively be the defense’s wild card, playing on the field wherever he’s needed in a certain set.

Whatever his position and responsibilities end up being, he’ll have to be a lot better than he was in 2019 to be re-signed. Another bad season would seal his fate, as the Chargers would likely just stick with Harris at that point and take a cornerback in the draft.

The most important question that needs to be answered in King’s new role is a simple one-how replaceable is he? If the Chargers feel that his athleticism and sometimes special playmaking shows through in 2020, he may be worth a $6-10 million dollar deal.

On the other hand, the LA Chargers were awfully quick to replace him with Harris. A lot will be answered this season in terms of King’s NFL future, most importantly whether he’s valuable enough to the team.

Chance of re-signing: 40%