3 AFC West signings that should legitimately worry Chargers fans
By Jason Reed
The LA Chargers were fairly active in NFL free agency this year, mostly bringing back internal free agents after the team opened up cap space with some key restructures.
The rest of the AFC West was busy as well with the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos all bringing in external help. Some of those signings were laughable and will end up hurting an AFC West foe more than it will help them.
Others, however, are strong signings that definitely should be on the Bolts' radar heading into the 2023 season.
3 AFC West signings that should worry the Chargers:
Charles Omenihu, Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs released veteran edge rusher Frank Clark to create cap space for the 2023 offseason. To replace him, the team signed younger edge rusher Charles Omenihu to a two-year, $16 million contract that was far more friendly on the cap.
According to Over The Cap, Omenihu only has a $4.85 million cap hit this season. That does balloon to $11.15 million in 2024 but the Chiefs can get out of the contract with relatively low dead money if they need to.
Kansas City might not need to if the 26-year-old produces in 2023 like he did in 2022. According to Pro Football Focus, Omenihu picked up 54 quarterback pressures in 2022. Sure, his sack number was low at five but that proves why sack numbers can sometimes be a bit misleading.
There were 35 edge rushers who logged at least 400 pass-rushing snaps in 2022. Omenihu ranked fifth in pass-rush win rate behind Za'Darius Smith, Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa and Myles Garrett. He was that good last season. Kansas City got a steal, unfortunately.