LA Chargers who are playing for their jobs in the last four weeks
By Jason Reed
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports – LA Chargers
Certain players on the LA Chargers are playing for their job in 2021.
The last four games of the season do not mean anything for the LA Chargers. The team has been out of the playoff race for weeks now and were statistically eliminated with the 45-0 loss against the New England Patriots in Week 13.
Quite frankly, the one thing that Charger fans are rooting for at this point is, ironically, to lose. If the cards fall right, the Chargers could wind up with the third overall pick to draft Penei Sewell. Part of that equation is losing out, though.
The team is not going to just roll over, though. Several players on this team are playing for their jobs next season, whether it is on the Chargers or not. Here are those players.
All cap figures courtesy of Over The Cap.
LA Chargers who are playing for their job: Trai Turner
The Trai Turner trade looked excellent at the time but has not panned out how we expected it to. Turner has not been able to stay healthy this season and even when he has been healthy he has been really underwhelming.
He has been poor in pass blocking and has not had the kind of impact in run blocking that he should be having. It might sound silly that he is playing for his job after the Bolts traded for him, but that is certainly the case.
Turner is owed $11.5 million next season but can be waived with no cap hit. If he does not give the Chargers promising signs in these last four games, and misses even one of the games, then I think the team would probably be better off cutting him.
The depth at the position is thin, however, and if Tom Telesco holds onto his job he might hold onto Turner to avoid punting on his trade acquisition. If Turner does not finish the year strong and a new GM takes over then I would almost guarantee that he is gone.