The Los Angeles Chargers have had an extremely disappointing start to the legal tampering period and free agency. It can be said ad nauseam, but it will still be wholeheartedly true.
After the retirement of Bradley Bozeman and the releases of Mekhi Becton and Will Dissly, they had the most cap space in the league this offseason. It seemed as though this had been the plan of the front office all along considering how hesitant they were to spend at this time last year.
Prior to free agency, things were off to a good start. Both Teair Tart and Khalil Mack had received extensions. Los Angeles had found two middle-of-the market additions in Tyler Biadasz and Alec Ingold.
Then the first domino fell. And so did the second and the third, and so on. And the Chargers had yet to make a move that would help revamp the interior of their offensive line. Now, Los Angeles is left with very few options to fill out their two starting guard spots.
They, frankly, have made their bed through their hesitancy to spend aggressively in the first days of free agency. It's now time to lie in it.
The Chargers have very few options to fill their open guard positions
With Zion Johnson's departure to the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles is now without both of their starting guards from the 2025 season.
Maybe Cole Strange, whom the Chargers added on a two-year, $13 million deal, will be some sort of an upgrade over Becton or Johnson. It sure seems like they paid him starting-caliber money.
If he is, the Chargers could nab a right guard such as Olaivavega Ioane in the draft and hope he can slot in immediately on the offensive line. There are also some tackle options who could be kicked inside in this year's draft class, including Kadyn Proctor.
If he's not (or the plan was never to start him in the first place), Los Angeles is right back to square one. This is their most confusing course of action this offseason. They let Isaac Seumalo go to the Arizona Cardinals, David Edwards go the New Orleans Saints, and Alijah Vera-Tucker go to the New England Patriots without even so much as a whiff of public interest on their end.
Their options on the open market are now exceedingly slim. 34-year-old Joel Bitonio would have been a viable choice if sandwiched between Tyler Linderbaum and Rashawn Slater. On his own, the signing could quickly prove to be disastrous. The same goes for 36-year-old Kevin Zeitler and 31-year-old Wyatt Teller.
Of course it remains to be seen what the final roster looks like for 2026. But it appears, for now, as though the Chargers choice not to come out aggressively on the first day of free agency, either after Johnson or another guard, has come back to bite them.