Trading for an NFL player in the final year of his contract always carries some risk, as there's obviously no guarantee he'll re-sign once he becomes an unrestricted free agent. And that's the position the Los Angeles Chargers found themselves in on Monday after the legal tampering period for UFAs began, as edge rusher Odafe Oweh signed a four-year, $100 million deal with the Washington Commanders, including $68 million in guaranteed money.
Oweh, of course, was acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens last October, and while he only played a total of 13 games in a Bolts uniform, the former first-round pick certainly made an impact. After failing to record a single sack in his five appearances with Baltimore to open this past season, Oweh tallied 7.5 in a dozen regular-season outings with Los Angeles and then set a new franchise postseason record with three sacks and two forced fumbles in the Chargers' 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots in the Wild Card Round.
So, he'll certainly be missed.
That said, however, there is an upside to Oweh's departure that goes beyond the Commanders overpaying (and they did), and that would the Chargers possibly getting a very good compensatory pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Odafe Oweh's departure could get the Chargers an extra third-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft
For those who may not be familiar with how compensatory picks work, the first thing that has to be taken into a consideration is that any team who gets one has to lose more qualifying free agents than it signs.
If a team ultimately ends up qualifying, the most significant factor in the formula is the average dollar amount of a player's new contract, which for Oweh is obviously $25 million. Sure, some will make more than that, but that's certainly a nice number.
After money, the second-biggest factor is playing time, with a player needing to take at least 25 percent of the snaps on their side of the ball to qualify. Assuming Oweh avoids injury, he'll certainly be on the right side of that number for Dan Quinn's defense next year.
From there, a player is also awarded points if they earn honors such as an AP All-Pro or Pro Football Writers of America award. And if Oweh plays for Washington like he did during his limited run with Los Angeles, he could certainly do something there.
Once all these factors are weighted and added up, players are assigned a specific value, with the top five percent yielding third-round compensatory picks, down to seventh-rounders for the lowest-ranked players.
So, one could easily assume that the Chargers could receive an extra third-round pick in next year's draft if Oweh performs well, perhaps a fourth-rounder at the lowest. And seeing as how the only draft capital they gave up to get him was a fifth-round pick, that's at least some sort of positive to come out of all this.