The Los Angeles Chargers' 2025 season officially came to an end on Sunday night with a 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
Now, we could sit here and pinpoint everything that went wrong in the Bolts' embarrassing defeat, but there's nothing that can be done about it now, so the full focus of the organization must now shift toward the offseason.
And it'll undoubtedly be quite the entertaining one, as the Chargers have nearly 30 players set to hit some sort of free agency, which is the main reason they have the most projected salary cap space at more than $103 million. So, Joe Hortiz and Jim Harbaugh certainly have plenty of decisions to make to get this roster in shape to tackle a tough 2026 schedule.
While Los Angeles is faced with a plethora of "maybe he will and maybe he won't be back" situations heading into free agency, we're quite certain the five players below are already out the door. And seeing as how the Bolts should be doing everything in their power to bring back as many defensive players as possible in 2026, given how strong that unit was during the 2025 campaign, every single name we've got comes from the offensive side of the football.
We'll warn you that this may not be the sexiest list in the world, but if we're going to say "definitely," this is the route we've gotta take.
These Los Angeles Chargers players likely won't return in 2026
Trevor Penning, OL
It's no secret that the Chargers' biggest problem during the season was the play of the offensive line (that was on FULL display against the Pats), an issue that started with the season-ending injury to Rashawn Slater during training camp and was amplified when Joe Alt suffered a season-ending ailment of his own.
In an attempt to fix at least part of the problem, the Chargers made a trade with the New Orleans Saints just ahead of the deadline for former first-rounder Trevor Penning. And it didn't take long for that move to turn into a disaster, as he was benched in his very first start with the team against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Basically out of necessity, Penning ultimately got a few more starts as the season progressed, but there's no way he's back with the Bolts in 2026.
Zion Johnson, Trey Pipkins III, Austin Deculus, Bobby Hart, and Jamaree Salyer are all free agents as well, and it might be safe to say that every Chargers fan on the planet wouldn't care if they all left.
Andre James, C
Speaking of offensive linemen who won't be back, we come to backup center Andre James.
There was a time when many Chargers fans were clamoring for the veteran to take over for Bradley Bozeman, but when he finally got his chance to take some offensive snaps when the Bolts were getting blown out in that aforementioned matchup with the Jags, he proved exactly why he was the second-stringer, making two big errors on his first two plays and ultimately earning a 56.4 overall PFF grade that afternoon.
And when he got the chance to start in Week 18 when Harbaugh opted to rest most of his regular starters, James was even worse, recording a 46.8 mark.
Trey Lance, QB
As mentioned, Harbaugh opted to rest the majority of his starters in Week 18 against the Broncos, a list that obviously included quarterback Justin Herbert.
As such, Trey Lance was given his first start of the season, and things did not go very well, as the third overall pick from the 2021 draft completed just 20 of 44 passes for 136 yards with zero touchdowns and an interception, although he did lead the team with 69 rushing yards on just nine carries.
Now, one could say that such a dismal outing would make it easier for Los Angeles to re-sign him. And that is true, as Lance isn't likely to get an offer from a team with whom he could compete for a starting job. But the Bolts need a better option at QB2, so don't expect him to be back.
Tyler Conklin, TE
With the emergence of Oronde Gadsden II (at some points anyway) and Will Dissly under contract for the 2026 season, one would assume that Tyler Conklin, whose $3.1 million cap hit wasn't even close to being worth the 101 receiving yards he tallied in 2025, will be a one-and-done case in Los Angeles.
Dissly may end up being gone as well, as his cap figure for the '26 campaign is $5.5 million. The Chargers would only take a dead cap hit of $1.5 million by cutting him and would save $4 million, some of which they could use to re-sign Tucker Fisk, who's a restricted free agent and ultimately made his way into the backup slot behind Gadsden on the depth chart.
But whatever happens, Conklin is undoubtedly out the door.
Najee Harris, RB
The idea of signing Najee Harris to a one-year deal was great in theory, as the Alabama alum had surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in each of his four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the fact that he'd never missed a single game in those four years was obviously an added bonus.
But after missing most of training camp due to an eye injury following a fireworks mishap on July 4, the 27-year-old suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the Chargers' Week 3 win over the Broncos.
While Omarion Hampton's rookie campaign didn't go as planned, given all the injuries he sustained, he's obviously still the plan at RB1 moving forward. The Bolts will need to find a new backup if they can't re-sign Kimani Vidal, but Harris won't be that guy.