As hard as it may be to believe, it's already been close to a month since NFL free agency began, and the Los Angeles Chargers haven't made anywhere near the noise some thought they would, especially given the absurd amount of salary cap space Joe Hortiz and Jim Harbaugh had to work with.
It's not that the Bolts didn't make any moves, of course, but outside of bringing back Khalil Mack on another one-year deal, their most high-profile (and expensive) signing was center Tyler Biadasz. And that went down before the legal tampering period ever began, as he'd already been let go by the Washington Commanders. It was obviously a necessary move after Bradley Bozeman retired, and Biadasz is undoubtedly an upgrade, but that certainly couldn't have been the big signing LA fans had in mind when this offseason began.
NFL executives have taken notice of the Chargers' overall lack of movement as well. And during an anonymous round of interviews recently conducted by The Athletic, at least one believes that lack of movement is going to cost the Bolts dearly in the long run.
"Once you have the owners who say, ‘No, I want to go for it,’ it becomes really hard for the teams who are passive to win big,” one exec said. “If you’re the Chargers or the Bengals and you’re gonna play this thing passive, yeah, you’re going to compete with the Ravens right now and the Broncos right now, but in two years, it’s gonna be a different team that passed you.”
That's a tough assessment to argue right now, wouldn't you say?
The Chargers haven't made many moves in free agency but still have a lot of salary cap space
Again, it's not as if the Chargers haven't made moves. But also again, they just haven't really moved the needle, as the only other external additions they've made besides Biadasz have been fullback Alec Ingold, blocking tight end Charlie Kolar, running back/kick returner Keaton Mitchell, offensive linemen Cole Strange and Kayode Awosika, and defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.
And in addition to Mack, the list of their own free agents they brought back consists of Trey Pipkins III, Trevor Penning, Del'Shawn Phillips, Denzel Perryman, Tony Jefferson, Deane Leonard, Josh Harris, and Trey Lance. And we do have to throw Teair Tart in there, as LA locked him up back in January. Even with Tart, though, it has to be said again that this was not the offseason fans had in mind.
And once you throw in the fact that the Chargers lost several starters and key reserves, a list obviously topped by Odafe Oweh but also includes Zion Johnson, Benjamin St-Juste, Otito Ogbonnia, and Jamaree Salyer.
Add everything up, and the Bolts have about broken even, perhaps even slightly ahead. But that's only because Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater are both expected to be ready for training camp. And as that anonymous exec mentioned, that might be fine for now, but when you look around the AFC and see what some of the other clubs have done, it might not be fine for very long.
Chargers fans won't want to hear it, but the Las Vegas Raiders are going to be better. And the same can be said for the Tennessee Titans. They might not compete for playoff spots in 2026, but they took the money they had at their disposal and set themselves up for future success, and the Chargers simply didn't.
Even immediate success isn't guaranteed. I mean, do we really expect both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens to struggle as badly as both did this past year? No. It's hard to ever know what to make of the Cincinnati Bengals, as Joe Burrow's health is always the big factor there, but Cincy has to be taken into account as well.
Now, the silver lining in all of this is that the Chargers still have a lot of cap space to play with. There aren't many high-profile players left to pick from in free agency, but having extra money around does open up possibilities on the trade market, whether now or during the season. And cap space does roll over, so perhaps LA is setting up for 2027, which should see the organization receive several compensatory draft picks as well.
But what if 2026 is the only season the Chargers get with Mike McDaniel? Because we all know he's going to be interviewing for head coaching positions again next offseason. Was it really worth it to sit back and watch just about every other team have a better free agency period, especially knowing you only have picks in the upcoming draft?
It's a bold strategy, and we now just have to wait and see if it pays off.