While it's only been a little over a week since the 2025 NFL season officially came to an end with the Seattle Seahawks hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in team history after an impressive 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots, there have already been countless predictions thrown around for the 2026 campaign.
As one would imagine, ESPN has gotten in on the fun, as the Worldwide Leader recently got 11 of its top NFL experts together to do a little way-too-early opining, with each offering up predictions on next year's Super Bowl 61 matchup at SoFi Stadium, as well as the winner of the 2026 NFL MVP.
While not one of the 11 threw Justin Herbert's name into the Most Valuable Player conversation, despite NFL oddsmakers believing he'll play a big part in that race, two did throw the Los Angeles Chargers into the mix for the Super Bowl, and one even went as far as to say that the Bolts will win the Big Game for the first time ever.
ESPN's Seth Walder predicts the Chargers to beat the Packers in Super Bowl 61
While Aaron Schatz doesn't have the Chargers winning the Super Bowl, he does at least have them representing the AFC against none other than the Los Angeles Rams, with whom the Bolts obviously share SoFi Stadium.
"Rams over Chargers: That's right, I'm predicting a fight for Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium. Two home teams! The Rams were No. 1 in offense this season, and offense is more consistent than defense. The Chargers will get back their offensive tackles and added Mike McDaniel to coordinate the offense, plus they have a ton of cap space to address their offseason needs."
To end the suspense, Seth Walder was the one who picked the Chargers to lift the Lombardi for the first time in franchise history, predicting a Super Bowl 61 victory over the team Vince Lombardi himself led to wins in the first two Super Bowls, that team, of course, being the Green Bay Packers.
"Chargers over Packers. Am I falling for the Chargers in the offseason, just like we all do every year? Sure. But this time will be different! The 2025 Chargers' biggest weakness -- the offensive line -- already has a built-in solution with their two excellent tackles (Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater) returning to health. Add McDaniel as offensive coordinator and I find myself truly believing."
It's certainly not surprising to see Mike McDaniel's name mentioned by both, as many believe his presence will take the Chargers' offense to the next level. You'll notice that both also mentioned the expected returns of Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, whose absences obviously played a massive part in the O-line struggles Los Angeles faced this past season.
Schatz mentioned the ample amount of salary cap space the Chargers have to play with this offseason, but the reason that number is so high is that they have close to 30 players set to enter some sort of free agency, a list that includes several starters and key reserves.
How GM Joe Hortiz and head coach Jim Harbaugh handle the next few months will obviously decide how competitive the Bolts will actually be in 2025, but it's nice to see Los Angeles getting some love in these way-too-early projections.