Coming into the season, there were some major questions about how the Los Angeles Chargers would ultimately distribute touches in their backfield—which featured three backs with distinct skill sets in Omarion Hampton, Keaton Mitchell, and Kimani Vidal.
That's still something Mike McDaniel is sorting out, and that process has likely been slowed by the injuries to the offensive line and the sub-par performance of the interior. Hampton has hardly looked like the bellcow back we envisioned after his semi-healthy rookie season, but Mitchell hasn't fully claimed an even split of the workload to this point in the campaign. What is clear, though, is that Vidal is RB3—even as his touches continue to increase.
In Weeks 1-3, Vidal totaled just one carry for six yards, operating primarily in pass protection and getting very little opportunity to work his between-the-tackles magic in the run game. In Weeks 4-6, he posted 20 carries for 103 yards, and we got another glimpse of the explosiveness and durability that made him such a valuable asset last season when both Hampton and Najee Harris went down. Hampton posted 30 touches in that span, while Mitchell posted 18 (although he surpassed Hampton in his share of carries in Week 4).
The Chargers need to move some pieces at the deadline. They don't necessarily need to move Vidal.
But if Los Angeles feels comfortable moving forward with its combination of Hampton and Mitchell in the backfield (and wants to avoid a roughly $14 million bill for the backfield next season), trading Vidal to a team that's willing to use him in more of a workhorse role could be a reasonable option.
Here are three teams that might be willing to take that swing.
1. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are an interesting one here, given that their backfield blend at the start of the season between Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks felt relatively undetermined. But after Brooks went on the IR in Week 2 with a groin injury, Hubbard truly claimed the role for his own. Across six games, he's posted 96 carries for 459 yards—and Carolina as a whole sits at 12th in the league with an average of 4.3 yards per rushing attempt.
This would come down to whether the Panthers view Brooks as a consistent RB2 option or not, considering his return is currently slated for around Week 10 or 11. But this offense, at the least, has a chance to be truly special this season, and if a piece like Jonathan Taylor isn't attainable, perhaps they'd be willing to fill out their room with a back like Vidal.
2. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals offense has finally found its stride, but its lack of depth in the RB room continues to limit the ceiling of this unit. They're just 28th in yards per rushing attempt this season, and the vast bulk of those touches have fallen to Chase Brown—who's looking remarkably less efficient than he was in 2024 and 2025. Samaje Perine is Cincinnati's RB2, and although he's currently operating at a productive level, it's hard to see him taking on that secondary workload over the rest of the year in his age-31 season.
Vidal, for his part, could both take on a large share of that workload and provide a nice complement to Brown, especially in terms of his pass blocking. Again, this market is likely defined by Taylor, but it's hard to see Cincinnati going that route even if the star is ultimately available.
3. Green Bay Packers
If this offense is going to reach its potential, it feels like there needs to be an RB added to this roster somehow. The Packers are currently dead last in the league in yards per rushing attempt, and things didn't look much better even with Josh Jacobs in the fold in Week 7. (The NFL hasn't yet concluded its investigation into Jacobs' alleged violations, although he's been removed from the Commisioner's Exempt List and is eligible to play.)
Marshawn Lloyd hasn't looked like a real option outside of the red zone, and the Packers almost certainly have their eyes set on Super Bowl contention considering the way Jordan Love and the receiving corps have performed this season. Bringing in a running back like Vidal, even considering the adjustments he still has to make to operating in a zone-heavy rushing game, could help solidify this room at a relatively cheap value.
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