The Los Angeles Chargers and general manager Joe Hortiz have received quite a bit of criticism this offseason for their overall lack of aggression in free agency.
After watching two important contributors in Zion Johnson and Odafe Oweh depart to rival teams, the Chargers have failed, up to this point, to adequately replace them. Of course they've made their fair share of moves this offseason. They've added Tyler Biadasz, Keaton Mitchell, Charlie Kolar, Alec Ingold, and Cole Strange— all of whom figure to play big roles on next year's squad.
But a pair of major holes at edge rusher and left guard stings a little bit more when the team has yet to truly add a marquee player this offseason.
At times, Los Angeles' unflappingly conservative approach has come back to bite them. It very well could in 2026.
But now that the dust has settled, we can acknowledge that both Johnson and Oweh signed contracts that exceeded the actual value of their production. In that context, it made sense for the Chargers to let them walk.
Odafe Oweh and Zion Johnson will have a tough time living up to their contracts
Gary Davenport at Bleacher Report recently assembled a list of the 10 worst free-agent signings of the offseason. As you can guess, both Oweh and Johnson made the cut.
In one sense, Davenport's evaluation fails to account for the market value those positions command. Johnson's three-year, $49.5 million contract with the Cleveland Browns comes in slightly above the mark that a capable starting guard will usually earn in today's market. Oweh's four-year, $96 million contract is relatively fair compensation given the market at edge rusher this offseason.
But if you take a broader view, it's clear that neither of these figures were tenable for the Chargers.
Johnson was a bright spot on an abysmal offensive line in 2025. But in the greater context of the league, he was simply middling. He allowed 26 total pressures and three sacks on 663 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. That's not a level of production that warrants the highest annual value for any free agent guard this offseason.
For context, Isaac Seumalo, who allowed just 15 pressures on 465 pass-blocking snaps, earned a contract with an annual value of $10.5 million from the Arizona Cardinals.
Oweh, meanwhile, was also paid above his station. Although he finished 2025 strong with the Chargers, it's become clear he needs the right defensive infrastructure and a dominant pass rusher alongside him to truly be successful. He also highly struggles to seal the edge against the run. A player with his deficiencies frankly should not be in the upper tier of the edge market, rubbing elbows with players like Trey Hendrickson and Jaelan Phillips.
Letting these players walk was pragmatic. Of course, they would be more palatable if Los Angeles had used that money to go after a star player on the market.
But if they can leverage that cap space to extend Derwin James and Tuli Tuipulotu (and perhaps even add an impactful player in a trade), perhaps it will all prove to be worth it in the end.
Add us as a preferred source on Google