Jim Harbaugh was officially introduced as the head coach of the LA Chargers on Thursday and fans were ready to run through a brick wall. The 2024 season cannot come soon enough as Chargers fans cannot wait to see how Harbaugh turns this franchise around.
"Chargering" has become an unfortunate trend that fans have gotten used to and Harbaugh is exactly the kind of hire the Bolts needed to get rid of that stench. Harbaugh has been a winner everywhere he has gone and that shouldn't change in LA.
Harbaugh is going to have a massive say in what the Chargers do this offseason as he works alongside new GM Joe Hortiz. There is a lot of work to be done in Harbaugh's first season, which may lead to some interesting moves.
4 bold predictions in Jim Harbaugh's first offseason with the Chargers:
1. Khalil Mack and Mike Williams are cut/traded
Chargers fans could see this one from a mile away before Harbaugh was even hired and it is likely going to be his first order of business. The Bolts have to get under the salary cap and as it stands right now, the team is $45 million over next year's cap, per Over The Cap.
The Chargers can make huge strides in getting under the salary cap by parting ways with the injury-prone Williams and the aging Khalil Mack. As great as both players can be, Williams cannot be bet on to stay healthy and Mack can regress at any point with his age.
If the Chargers cut/trade either of these players before June 1 then they will free up a combined $43.25 million. It is not hard to see why Harbaugh would make this decision, as these two moves alone nearly get the Chargers into the positive.
2. The Chargers (finally) trade back in the 2024 NFL Draft
One thing that Tom Telesco never did as the general manager of the Chargers was trade down in the NFL Draft. Telesco traded up several times but he was never able to trade down in the draft to get more assets to build out the roster.
Trading back is something that fans have wanted the team to do for several years and now the team is in a great spot. With the fifth overall pick in the draft, the Chargers can get a real haul from a QB-hungry team that wants to jump other QB-hungry teams.
As long as Marvin Harrison Jr. doesn't shockingly fall to the fifth overall pick (he shouldn't), then the Chargers should be looking to move down. In the perfect scenario, the Chargers would be able to pick up extra picks for moving down 5-7 spots and still draft tight end Brock Bowers in the first round.
There are several roster holes that need to be filled in Los Angeles and getting an extra top-50 pick along with other capital is the best way to address these holes. If the Chargers manage to get the same pick later that they would have just taken at five then it is icing on the cake.
Hortiz is coming from an organization that traded back a lot in the NFL Draft and it helped the Ravens a ton in previous years.
This should be the only time that the Chargers actually have a premium draft pick in the Harbaugh era, so you know that the team is going to take full advantage of all the doors it opens.
3. The Chargers draft at least two players from Michigan
Harbaugh is coming off his best season as a head coach at the collegiate level as he was able to reach the mountaintop with the Michigan Wolverines and win the National Championship. Michigan was loaded with talent this past season, a lot of which will be in the 2024 NFL Draft.
There is a long list of Michigan players who will be drafted in April and with direct connections to all of them you better believe that Harbaugh is going to potentially look to reunite with players that make sense on the Chargers.
Harbaugh did not draft any players from Stanford in his first season with the 49ers. In fact, Harbaugh had a pretty public feud with Richard Sherman, who was drafted in the fifth round that year and did not have a great relationship with Harbaugh at Stanford.
There are no feuds this time around and if there were ever a time to draft Michigan players it is this year. Harbaugh and the Chargers won't just take one Michigan player, though, as the table is set for the team to take at least two.
There are simply too many players on Michigan that fit direct needs that the Chargers have. Blake Corum could provide running back depth, Roman Wilson could provide wide receiver depth, Drake Nugent could be the answer at center. Heck, even linebacker Junior Colson and cornerback Mike Sainristril make sense for the Chargers.
There is too much overlap to ignore and for that reason, it is safe to assume that Harbaugh will reunite with at least two of his Michigan players in Los Angeles.
4. Keenan Allen signs an extension with the Chargers
Keenan Allen is the greatest receiver in Chargers franchise history, period. Allen proved that in 2023 and also proved that he can still play at an elite level and has a great relationship with Justin Herbert. All Harbaugh has done since being hired is rave about Allen, which is telling of what he thinks about the veteran receiver.
There was speculation that the Chargers could move on from Allen this offseason but that has been nixed by Allen himself. Allen assured Chargers fans that he was not going anywhere and there is no reason not to believe him. He will be back in 2024.
But it should not stop there. Even though he is on the wrong side of 30 and does have some recent injuries that are worrisome, the Chargers should look to lock down Allen for two more seasons. There are two benefits to doing this.
First of all, it could actually save the Chargers salary-cap space by converting some of his base salary into bonuses over the length of the deal. That would lower Allen's cap hit this season while keeping him at a reasonable price in future years.
More importantly, it gives the Chargers more of a cushion to transition the WR room into a new era. Williams will be gone, Joshua Palmer is entering the last year of his rookie deal, and Quentin Johnston could be a bust.
There is a world where Allen is not extended and the only wide receivers on the roster in 2025 are Johnston, Derius Davis, and any drafted rookies. That is not a great place to be, and having Allen through the 2026 season would bridge that cap.
Will he regress in his last year and not be a true WR1? Sure. But that is the price you pay to keep the best receiver in franchise history around to help his star quarterback.