In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter who Justin Herbert's backup is. Herbert would play every single snap en route to a Super Bowl win with any warm-bodied athlete behind him in the depth chart. But the NFL is not a perfect world, and the LA Chargers don't currently have a backup for their star quarterback.
Trey Lance served as QB2 last year and is a free agent after signing a one-year deal with the Bolts. Lance very well could just return and maintain the status quo, but with a new offensive coordinator in Mike McDaniel, the Chargers may also look for a different type of backup.
Spoiler alert: the Chargers won't sign an elite quarterback to back up Herbert next season. They could, however, sign someone who actually has a winning record as a starter. Of all the potential options to back up Herbert, no option makes more sense for the Bolts than recently released Cooper Rush.
Cooper Rush makes the most sense to be the Chargers' backup quarterback
Backup quarterback is an important position, even if the hope is that it never has to be used. Having a good backup who can keep an offense above water can legitimately be the difference in making the playoffs or not if a quarterback suffers a short-term injury during the season.
That's why the Chargers can't just roll out any random Joe behind Herbert. And as promising as Lance looked at times during the preseason, he may not inspire the most confidence, especially in a McDaniel offense that is probably worse suited for him than a Greg Roman offense.
There's also the dichotomy of needing to potentially invest in a backup quarterback without it impacting other areas. We know Chargers GM Joe Hortiz values compensatory picks and it would be shocking if the Chargers sign someone who takes away a comp pick in 2027. That is why Rush makes sense.
Rush was released by the Baltimore Ravens, meaning he does not count toward the comp formula. We also know that Hortiz loves to bring in former Ravens players and while his path didn't cross Rush's in Baltimore, that former Raven dynamic does make him more intriguing.
Rush's Ravens tenure didn't go great, but he has played legitimately well in spot-start situations in the past. In 2024, the former Dallas Cowboys backup went 4-4 with 1,844 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions while filling in for an injured Dak Prescott. Back in 2022, he went 4-1 as a spot starter.
McDaniel is building an offense around Herbert that won't require him to be superhuman. Theoretically, if anything did happen to the starting quarterback, the Chargers just need someone who can come in and not lose the game for the Bolts. Let McDaniel cook and let the defense take care of business. Rush can do that.
Again, hopefully it doesn't even matter because Herbert stays completely healthy and plays every single snap for the Chargers. But that shouldn't stop the Chargers from investing in Rush as the backup QB.