As of right now, the Los Angeles Chargers' starting guards for Week 1 will be Trevor Penning and Cole Strange. Given the amount of cap flexibility they had heading into free agency, fans were certainly hoping for a more exciting outlook than that.
Things, of course, aren't all bad. They made a major upgrade in adding Tyler Biadasz before free agency even began, and they still have the rest of the offseason and the draft to, at the very least, find a left guard to slot in ahead of Penning. They've also ensured they have proper offensive line depth with their re-signing of Trey Pipkins III.
If they're able to find a starting-caliber left guard in the draft, it's quite possible the team is confident heading into 2026 with Strange as a member of their starting offensive line.
But staking everything on the draft would be a massive gamble, especially given the needs they still need to fill along their defense. They've left themselves in a position, however, where even their most logical free agent signing to fill that slot would represent a similar risk.
Bleacher Report recently linked veteran guard Kevin Zeitler as a strong fit for Los Angeles' needs. No matter what you think of their approach this offseason, the fact that we've even gotten to this point indicates something dire about the Chargers' current situation.
Kevin Zeitler would be a logical signing at this point, but this is not the ideal scenario
The way the Chargers have approached this offseason indicates the extent of their faith in new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. But no matter how you spin it, Los Angeles cannot enter 2026 with both Penning and Strange slated to start.
Zeitler, in a vacuum, would be a strong option to prevent this reality. He has experience at both right and left guard, although he's spent most of his career on the right side of the line. Per Pro Football Focus, he finished 13th among the 81 qualified guards in overall protection grade in 2025.
But Zeitler just turned 36. He's by no means had an injury-plagued career, having missed just six games over the past four seasons. But any player at that age is a continuous gamble for any organization.
It's looking more and more like Olaivavega Ioane will not be available for the Chargers to select at 22nd overall. Selecting any other guard in this draft class would represent placing a serious stake on their immediate upside. It's not a great position to be in.
But signing Zeitler, who is likely the best available guard on the market, would not leave them in a much less risky spot.
As they say, hindsight is 20/20. But it's difficult to argue that Los Angeles has left themselves in the best possible position at this point in the offseason when it comes to their offensive line.