Coming into the offseason, there was reason to be excited about what the Los Angeles Chargers could accomplish. They had ample cap space, and by the time the legal tampering period was looming, they had amassed the most financial flexibility in the NFL.
They utilized a portion of this on released players prior to free agency, adding Tyler Biadasz and Alec Ingold to next year's squad while avoiding the compensatory pick formula.
But since the legal tampering period opened yesterday, they've failed to grab any of the names that had fans so excited at the start of the offseason. Tyler Linderbaum went to the Las Vegas Raiders. Connor McGovern returned to the Buffalo Bills. Their interest in A.J. Brown has apparently waned.
Even their biggest internal free agents, Odafe Oweh and Zion Johnson, have signed elsewhere. Los Angeles still has over $67 million in cap space, but they're certainly not acting like it.
Now, they have lost a minor, but sneakily important defensive piece. Benjamin St-Juste has agreed to terms with the Green Bay Packers, per Ian Rapoport. Los Angeles must soon wake up and start aggressively building their roster for next season.
Benjamin St-Juste would have been nice to have back, but his departure represents something more significant
Although the Chargers' signing of St-Juste last offseason was widely criticized, it turned out to be a solid move. Jesse Minter was able to maximize his impact, and St-Juste took on an important role as a depth piece at outside corner for Los Angeles.
He played just 37% of the team's defensive snaps, but per Pro Football Focus, he posted the 11th-best overall coverage grade among 114 qualified cornerbacks. St-Juste is replaceable, but the Packers signing him to a two-year, $10 million deal shows just how much he revitalized his value in his lone season with the Chargers.
Los Angeles needs depth behind Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart, especially if they want to give Chris O'Leary the tools he needs to maintain the team's defensive dominance. Go ahead and add "depth corner" to their growing list of needs this offseason.
Of course Joe Hortiz and Jim Harbaugh have a plan. But too often that plan has devolved into settling for middle-of-the-market, underwhelming signings while watching players who might be slightly overpaid walk to other teams. It's difficult not to overreact at this point.
On the first day of the legal tampering period, the Chargers gained two depth offensive linemen in Cole Strange and Trevor Penning. They, meanwhile, lost Johnson, Oweh, and now (on the start of the second day) St-Juste. These books will need to be balanced at some point, and when they are, hopefully Hortiz can salvage what's been an underwhelming start to free agency.