After making the most of limited resources a year ago, the LA Chargers have a real opportunity to build on the 2024 season with the resources available in the 2025 offseason. With plenty of cap space and an abundance of draft capital, general manager Joe Hortiz is going to be busy bringing in new faces.
There inevitably will be those who depart from Los Angeles as well. The Chargers have a long list of free agents, many of which will be playing for new teams next season. It isn't just the free agents who may depart, though, as the Chargers have a relatively big cap casualty to potentially make this season.
The Chargers could cut or trade Joey Bosa to free up $25.36 million in cap space for 2025. If Bosa is on the team he will carry a $36.4 million cap hit. As expensive as that is, Bosa is still a big name in this league and seemingly gives the Chargers a tough decision to make about his future.
The decision may not actually be that tough, though, and the Chargers may have tipped their hand slightly. Hortiz and Jim Harbaugh raved about free-agent edge rusher Khalil Mack on Wednesday and made it clear they want to do everything possible to bring him back next season.
Harbaugh and Hortiz being so dedicated to bringing Mack back could be foreshadowing Bosa's eventual fate with the Chargers.
It now seems even more likely Joey Bosa will be cut or traded by the Chargers
If Bosa was cemented on the 2025 roster then the Chargers would need to scramble to bring Mack back. Of course, it always helps to add more depth, but at Mack's age, it wouldn't be a great roster strategy to commit a large salary figure to Mack with Bosa on the books for $36.4 million.
Spending in the ballpark of $60 million on edge rushers is not a great idea with so many other holes on the roster to fill, especially when the Chargers have Tuli Tuipulotu and the 2025 NFL Draft to bolster the position.
But if the Chargers are intent on reuniting with Mack then it may indicate the team expects to have a need and more resources to fill that need. On paper, the Chargers could re-sign Mack for less the amount the team would save by parting ways with Bosa. So the team would essentially replace Bosa with Mack and save money in the process.
If Bosa had a great 2024 season then this would not even be a conversation but that was not the case. Bosa missed even more time with injury after being injury-prone the previous two seasons and finished with 39 total pressures on the quarterback, per Pro Football Focus.
Bosa has not recorded more than 40 pressures in a season since 2021, which is also the last season he reached double-digit sacks. The former first-round pick ranked 36th among all edge rushers in PFF's pass rushing productivity rating. Paying over $36 million for the 36th-ranked edge rusher does not seem like a great roster strategy.
Mack, meanwhile, ranked 24th. Not a massive step up from Bosa, but he was more productive and will be available for cheaper.
Plus, the Chargers could knock out two birds with one stone by parting ways with Bosa. He is still a big name in this league and may warrant a third-round pick via trade from a team that is hungry for a pass-rusher.
With an abundance of cap space, a team like the New England Patriots could trade a pick for Bosa. They are in a very similar position the Chargers were when they originally traded for Mack, so it makes all the sense in the world for them to take a swing.
Regardless of whether a trade happens and which team that trade would be with, the writing is on the wall for the end of Joey Bosa in LA.