As the Los Angeles Chargers approach their Week 7 bye (with a matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs in between), they need to be seriously thinking about where this organization goes from here. This season, with an 0-5 start, is already a lost one in terms of the team's playoff hopes. They'd likely have to win 11 of their next 12 games to stand a chance at a Wild Card berth, and this roster hasn't shown nearly enough to believe that that's possible.
So do they start to sell off some of their tradeable assets at the deadline in order to amass some additional draft capital for a reset this offseason?
Khalil Mack is clearly the first name that comes to mind in this scenario. He returned to Los Angeles on a one-year deal with hopes of contending for a Super Bowl before the end of his career, and sending him to a contender may be the best thing for all parties involved. But the optionality doesn't stop there for the Chargers.
Denzel Perryman is on a one-year deal, as is Dalvin Tomlinson. Both are likely movable by the deadline if Los Angeles doesn't see a path forward with either player.
But the most difficult decision likely comes down to lead cornerback Donte Jackson, who's on the back half of the two-year, $13 million contract he signed with the Chargers prior to last season. Given the way this organization has tended to approach the secondary, it's reasonable to assume (in a vacuum) that Jackson will be gone either at the deadline or this offseason.
Taking a look at the rest of the room, though, that's not a decision that can be made without a concrete plan in place to re-shape the Chargers' coverage tools heading into 2027.
Donte Jackson is a real trade candidate—but where do the Chargers turn if they deal their top corner?
Given the tools he has at his disposal and the adversity he's faced so far, Chris O'Leary has shown quite a few encouraging signs as the Chargers' defensive play caller. Through five weeks, Los Angeles is yet again among the league's top-10 passing defenses, and there's been some major signs of improvement since the Week 1 bust against the Arizona Cardinals.
But a close look at this position group leaves some room for doubt moving forward.
Jackson has been Los Angeles' top cornerback virtually since his arrival at the start of 2025, and although he struggled heavily in Week 1, he's since turned things around with a string of strong performances prior to the concussion he suffered in Week 4.
To their credit, the Chargers have remained relatively staunch in the secondary with Jackson out. They were able to limit the Seattle Seahawks' passing game with him missing much of that matchup, and they did the same against Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos when he was out of the lineup entirely.
Tarheeb Still has been solid as well this season. But beyond that, the Chargers' options are frighteningly limited. Cam Hart has struggled to replicate what we saw from him last season, and he's routinely been targeted by opposing quarterbacks while posting only one PBU across the first five games of this campaign. With Benjamin St-Juste having departed in free agency to the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles only has UDFA Rodney Shelley and special-teamer Deane Leonard to rely on beyond their top three cornerbacks.
It's also important to mention that both Still and Hart will be entering the final year of their rookie deals in 2027.
In the past, Joe Hortiz has relied primarily on his scouting abilities and draft acumen to provide secondary talent to this roster. Both Still and Hart were fifth-round picks, and both have exceeded expectations relative to the level of draft capital that was used to add them to the team. But if Los Angeles is going to let their reliable, veteran corner in Jackson walk this offseason, there needs to be more than that in place to restructure this room.
The Chargers seem slated to end up with a top draft pick, and it's likely that both Leonard Moore and Ellis Robinson IV, the top cornerbacks in this class, will be available when they select. Or perhaps there's a Day 2 swing in store for Los Angeles to add to this room.
This upcoming free agency class—which will be headined by Tariq Woolen, Greg Newsome, and Keisean Nixon—doesn't provide the opportunity for many splash moves.
But if the Chargers are even going to consider moving on from Jackson, either at the trade deadline or in free agency, they're going to need to be committed to investing serious capital to make this room whole again. Still and Hart, at least right now, can't be trusted to hold down this ship on its own, and depleting the talent even further is an unfair task to lay at O'Leary's feet.
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