The LA Chargers have quite a bit of cap space to spend this offseason with a multitude of directions to go. The Super Bowl is the ceiling for this team with Justin Herbert but the front office needs to patch various holes both with the team's cap space as well as the 11 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Tight end is one of the needs for the Bolts this offseason with Jared Cook hitting free agency and likely not returning after an underwhelming end to the 2021 season. The position does not seem to be a huge need, though, as Donald Parham and Tre' McKitty is a great place to start.
However, anything can happen in the NFL and the Chargers could shock us with a big-name tight end signing. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler broke down the best team fits for the top 50 free agents this offseason and connected the Chargers to perhaps the best tight end on the market: Mike Gesicki. While signing a big-name is typically exciting for the fanbase, this is a move that I cannot get behind.
The LA Chargers would be foolish to sign Mike Gesicki in free agency.
There are a multitude of reasons why this doesn't make sense. While the Chargers have the money to make a splashy signing like this, it would be poor allocation of funds on the team's part. First of all, if the Chargers were going to sign Gesicki this offseason then that would essentially take the team out of the running for Mike Williams.
Sure, the Chargers could theoretically sign both Williams and Gesicki but then they won't have much of anything to address the defensive side of the ball. PFF projects Gesicki to get $13.75 million per season while Spotrac estimates he will get $11 million. Just for simplicity's sake, we will cut it right down the middle and say he signs a four-year, $50 million contract ($12.5 million per season).
Mike Gesicki is a solid tight end but the Chargers would be foolish to let their in-house guy walk in Hunter Henry only to turn around and sign Gesicki for a more expensive deal a year later. It is not like Gesicki in in the Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Mark Andrews realm, either. His career-high for receiving yards (which he is coming off of) is 780 yards.
There are also other tight ends on the market that can give the Chargers exactly what they need at a cheaper cost. My personal favorite choice (who is someone who I wanted the team to trade for last offseason) is David Njoku. However, if he is too expensive there are still some solid tight end candidates for the Bolts to consider.
With a solid foundation in place with McKitty and Parham, the Chargers do not need to go out and make a splashy signing at tight end. Save that money for bringing back Mike Williams and make a more cost-effective signing at tight end. Heck, as someone who really does not like Jared Cook on this team, I would much rather have Cook at $4 million than Gesicki at $12 million+.