The Los Angeles Chargers, for the most part, have brought their offseason business to a close.
They weren't abnormally active in the early parts of free agency, but they still managed to replenish their offensive line and add depth along the rest of the unit with their signings of Tyler Biadasz, Cole Strange, Charlie Kolar, Keaton Mitchell, and Alec Ingold.
They then finished the job in the 2026 NFL Draft, adding two high-level contributors in Akheem Mesidor and Jake Slaughter before addressing depth needs across the rest of the roster. There's still quite a bit that needs to be determined in terms of the depth chart. But largely, Los Angeles has done its job successfully over the past few months..
Now that the Draft and the most important waves of free agency have passed, however, the Chargers must now turn their attention toward the issue that compelled them to be stringent with their cap flexiblity in the first place. Star pass-rusher Tuli Tuipulotu is eligible for an extension this offseason.
In the view of Daniel Popper at The Athletic, in his latest Chargers mailbag, Los Angeles has two clear options— extend Tuipulotu immediately even at his inflated value or wait through 2026, where Tuipulotu's value could either rise or fall dependent upon his production.
As enticing as it might be to roll the dice on a decrease in Tuipulotu's production, however, the Chargers have only one clear option. They must get Tuipulotu's extension out of the way as soon as possible.
Chargers must address their Tuli Tuipulotu conundrum ASAP
Here's what Popper had to say aboiut the issue:
"For the Chargers, if they do the contract this offseason, they would be inking Tuipulotu to an extension at high tide, fresh off his best pro season. They could wait until next offseason. The price goes up if Tuipulotu replicates his 2025 production. The price goes down if he does not. In the end, the two sides will end up settling in the $32 million- to $34 million-per-year range. That is a fair price for a really good player in Tuipulotu. It might take some time to get there, though." Daniel Popper, The Athletic
Popper's estimation is more than fair. Across 16 games in 2025, Tuipulotu fully stepped into a star role for the Chargers, posting 13 sacks, 49 combined tackles, and 20 tackles for loss. Odafe Oweh, who amassed 7.5 sacks last season, earned a $24 million annual value on his contract with the Washington Commanders. Jaelan Phillips, who totaled five sacks but is one of the league's premier run defenders off the edge, earned an annual value of $30 million with the Carolina Panthers.
If Tuipulotu's number settles slightly above the price for Phillips, no one would be surprised.
But there's always the chance that, given his role in 2026, Tuipulotu is able to inflate that number even further. Khalil Mack's production is waning with age, although he's still highly disruptive off the edge. There are still questions surrounding how immediately viable Akheem Mesidor will be as a pure pass-rusher at the NFL level.
The Chargers have set aside the money for Tuipulotu (and Derwin James, for that matter). They have the Joe Alt extension to deal with next offseason. But outside of that, they are relatively secure financially for the foreseeable future.
There's no point, therefore, in gambling on Tuipulotu pushing his contract value even higher in 2026. Pay the man now, and let him wreak havoc on the field this season.
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