The trade deadline has finally arrived. Well, it will at 4 p.m. EST today. And the Los Angeles Chargers, of course, are sending out mixed messages concerning their organizational priorities.
Joe Hortiz has maintained, through virtually all of his interactions with national reporters, that the Chargers aren't interest in stripping back their roster—that they don't feel that "giving up on the season" sends the right message to the players.
A fire sale is one thing, and that would likely involve a potential trade involving Tuli Tuipulotu or Derwin James Jr. But to simply maximize the expiring assets on the roster when the season is already lost is another thing entirely. The latter strategy, if done correctly, would give Los Angeles a head start on resetting for next season—something that's an absolute necessity at this point.
That's a reality that Jim Harbaugh seemed to obliquely acknowledge in his press availability on Monday, per The Athletic's Noah Furtado.
But with the first day of the real deadline scramble already having come and gone, the Chargers have yet to make a move. It hasn't even been confirmed, as of yet, that they're truly accepting trade calls. Teams, though, are buying—and the Jacksonville Jaguars' spending spree yesterday is a strong example of where the Chargers could be finding value for their expiring assets.
Chargers need to find the teams desperate to contend and pry away some extra draft capital
The Jaguars, after making the playoffs last year, have taken another step forward in 2026. As it stands, they're one of the most complete teams in the league, with a highly efficient offense and a defense that sits just behind the truly elite tier of units across the NFL. Yesterday, they accelerated the urgency on this season by pulling off a pair of blockbuster trades to augment that defense.
Jacksonville acquired Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a 2027 second-round selection and a 2028 fifth-round selection. They then spun around and added defensive tackle Jordan Davis from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for their 2027 first and 2029 second-round pick.
Neither of these deals have much to do with the Chargers. It's unlikely Jacksonville would've even considered James at that price considering the length of his contract. The Jaguars are strapped for cash this offseason and likely won't be bringing Bates back in free agency.
But the Jaguars also needed to add defensive depth in addition to those stars, and they addressed that by adding defensive tackle Davon Godchaux from the New Orleans Saints for the cost of a conditional 2028 sixth-round selection.
Let's be clear here—this is all most fans are asking the Chargers to do.
The New Orleans Saints don't have many star assets to be stripped off their roster—at least not ones they'd be willing to part with right now. That's fair if the Chargers feel they're in that same position.
But pieces that are on expiring contracts—like Dalvin Tomlinson, Donte Jackson, and Denzel Perryman—absolutely can be traded at little to no cost to this team's current stature. Tomlinson, because of his position, is a prevalent example here. In just 23 more snaps than Godchaux this season, Tomlinson has more stops, more sacks, more QB hurries, and more total pressures than the defensive tackle the Jaguars just traded for.
That's not to say Tomlinson would've been the right fit for Jacksonville in this trade, especially if they feel that Godchaux is the better run stopper. But it's hard to imagine Tomlinson, who's also on an expiring contract, wouldn't have been in play here unless the Chargers outright weren't taking trade calls.
However it played out behind the scenes, though, it feels like it will simply be the first of many missed opportunities for Los Angeles at the deadline.
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