The LA Chargers made a shocking and downright heartbreaking trade on Thursday, sending Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick. The Chargers had already become cap-compliant with other moves so it appeared that the team was out of the water and Allen was not on the trade block any longer.
Instead, the Chargers traded the veteran receiver with one year left on his deal to free up over $23 million in cap space. Now that the dust has settled, the Chargers have about $22 million in effective cap space to spend, which factors in both the draft class pool and a potential in-season budget.
As it stands right now, the Chargers' wide receiver room consists of Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis. Even with Malik Nabers being penciled in as the fifth pick, this wide receiver room needs a lot of help.
If the Chargers turn to free agency, here are the best options they have left (spoiler: none of them are as good as Allen).
Best wide receivers the Chargers can sign after trading Keenan Allen:
1. Mike Williams
Ironically, Mike Williams is the best-available free-agent wide receiver on the market after the Chargers released him on Wednesday. While Williams was the first domino to fall in this cap crusade, early reports indicated that the Chargers actually wanted to bring him back at the right price.
At the time that seemed impossible with the Chargers' salary cap situation but now the team has a lot more cap space to spend. Bringing Williams back on a one-year deal now makes sense and is in the realm of possibility.
Would it have been better to just keep Allen and either extend him to soften his cap hit or even get rid of Khalil Mack/Joey Bosa? Probably. But re-signing Williams so he can be part of next year's wide receiving corps is much better than anything else the Chargers can do.
2. Odell Beckham Jr.
The next-best wide receiver on the free-agent market is Odell Beckham Jr., which should tell you everything you need to know about the status of the wide receiver market and why this move is so head-scratching to begin with.
The idea of signing Odell five years ago would have been great but he is no longer the same guy. Whereas Allen has arguably gotten better with age, age has not treated Beckham very fondly and injuries have definitely slowed down his production.
Beckham signed a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens late in the free-agent cycle last year and it would not be surprising if Joe Hortiz takes a similar approach with Odell this time around. If the Chargers sign Odell after May 1 then he won't count against the compensatory formula and in theory, he fill in as the team's WR3.
That being said, he is still a massive downgrade from Allen and adding Nabers and Odell to the WR room isn't a fail-proof solution. Nabers is a rookie after all, so there is a chance of him getting a slow start in the NFL. Odell is one injury away from maybe not getting another contract and we know how the Chargers are with injury luck.
All that being said, he is still the second-best receiver that the Chargers can sign in free agency at this point in time. That is what we call concerning.
3. Tyler Boyd
Tyler Boyd found a niche for being the third wide receiver on the Cincinnati Bengals in recent years. Boyd was a nice complementary piece behind Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins who was good for 2-3 big games a year that definitely swung many fantasy football matchups.
Some may say that Boyd is more talented than a WR3 and that on other teams he could be penciled in as the WR2. While at his best Boyd looks like someone who can be a WR2, he simply is not consistent enough to be considered a true second option in a passing offense.
Boyd would pencil in as the WR3 behind a presumed Nabers and Palmer, but that does not mean that this would suddenly revitalize the room. Boyd definitely would not be worth the contract he would likely sign for and most Chargers fans would simply prefer to have Allen instead.
Plus, it is not like Boyd is a spring chicken that is young in this league. Boyd will turn 30 during the 2024 season so he is not that far behind Allen in age. He also has not had a 1,000-yard season since 2019, so his best days are definitely behind him.
But once again, Boyd is the third-best wide receiver on the market for the Chargers to pursue. This team needs all the help it can get after trading away its best receiver.
4. Hunter Renfrow
Yes, this is how bad it is. The fourth-best wide receiver that the Chargers can try to sign for depth is Hunter Renfrow. Nothing against Renfrow, but the options for the Chargers are limited and it is clear that the team is not going to be able to sign a true impact player.
That is what makes this decision so boggling. There were other ways to generate enough cap space for a draft class while keeping Allen. Instead, they traded their franchise quarterback's best player to give him a wide receiver room that is barren with no real great options to replenish it.
Renfrow was once considered one of the best slot receivers in the league before Josh McDaniels came into down and ruined all of his stock. In a perfect world, the Chargers would be able to unlock some of that slot potential.
If Renfrow was able to return to his best form then it would at least be something to add alongside Nabers and Palmer/Johnston on the outside. If Nabers can avoid a slow start in his rookie year, and Johnston develops in year two, then there could be something there.
But all of that is not guaranteed. Just like how Johnston may simply be a bust, Renfrow's days as an ultra-productive slot receiver might be over. After all, he has a combined 585 receiving yards the last two years after posting 1,038 yards in a Pro Bowl campaign in 2021.
And after Renfrow, there really is not anyone worth mentioning. All of the other wide receivers available are no better than WR4s. They are a dime a dozen.