No NFL fan base (or any fan of any franchise in any sport, for that matter) ever wants to hear that their team's season is already over less than halfway through the year, but that's where things stand for fans of the Los Angeles Chargers right now, as the Bolts fell to 0-6 with a Week 6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of their bye and are now the only winless team in the league after the Miami Dolphins picked up a Week 7 win over the New York Jets.
The Chargers have made history before, in 1992, becoming the first and still only team to start 0-4 and still advance to the postseason, but nobody has gone 0-6, or even 0-5, and made the playoffs. And this team certainly isn't doing that.
As such, naturally, it wouldn't be surprising to see several Los Angeles players traded ahead of the November 10 deadline, with Khalil Mack and Donte Jackson seemingly being the most likely candidates. But another name that comes to mind is wide receiver Quentin Johnston, who was the subject of plenty of rumors early this past offseason before the Bolts decided to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, thus keeping the 2023 first-round pick under contract through the 2027 season.
But that was when the Chargers were still seen as Super Bowl contenders for this season, which is obviously no longer the case. So, with the Bolts out of contention, his name has resurfaced a bit. But the Bolts could face a problem if they opt to attempt to move him, as they simply haven't called his number very often over their first six games. As a result, teams might not be willing to give up what the LA front office could conceivably want in return.
Quentin Johnston has just eight catches for the Chargers in 2026
With all due respect, while Johnston showed flashes of brilliance at times over the first three years of his career after the Chargers took him with the 21st overall pick in the 2023 draft, he hasn't lived up to that first-round status.
Now, that's not to say the TCU hasn't been decent, as he had back-to-back 700-yard seasons in 2024 and 2025. But when you realize that the guy taken directly before him in that draft at No. 20 was Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the guy taken directly after him at No. 22 was Zay Flowers, that pair of 700-yard seasons don't look quite as impressive. Throw in the fact that Johnston could have had a lot more yardage had it not been all the drops for which he's known almost more than anything else, and things look even worse.
All that said, though, when his game is right and tight, Johnston can be incredibly explosive. And to his credit, the guy knows how to find the end zone, scoring 16 touchdowns between those '24 and '25 campaigns.
But this season, he has zero touchdowns, and even with some of the injuries the Chargers have been dealing with at the wide receiver position, Johnston, who did miss one game of his own with a chest injury, has only caught eight passes on 22 targets. Granted, those eight grabs have gone for an average of 20.6 yards, thus showcasing the aforementioned explosiveness. But are these really the numbers you want to see from a guy whose option was just picked up or could conceivably be used to pick up a few extra draft picks?
Obviously not.
The Chargers would still get something for him, of course, and there are teams out there who could unquestionably benefit from his services, with the San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers immediately coming to mind. But they wouldn't be the picks they would have gotten had they decided to deal him before deciding to pick up his option, which is worth $16.468 million, by the way.
If the Bolts want to showcase him ahead of the deadline, they might have a tough time doing so this week against the Los Angeles Rams, as their stadium mates have allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards in the entire NFL. Week 9, on the other hand, could be better, as the Houston Texans have surrendered the sixth-most such yards in the league.
But even if they don't deal him, the Chargers have to figure out a way to get him more involved, or the big investment they've made in him will only continue to look worse and worse with each passing week.
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