The LA Chargers are in an interesting predicament at the quarterback position. Justin Herbert is in a walking boot with a plantar fascia injury and the quarterback room behind him is far from ideal. Backup Easton Stick played the entire first half in the team's preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks and turned in a porous effort.
Herbert is expected to return before the start of the regular season but this particular injury can be tough. It is likely that Herbert will be paying through pain if he returns for Week 1 and there is always the change of re-aggravation.
Right now it is not serious enough to worry about Herbert's entire season but the Chargers may have to survive for a handful of games without their star quarterback. If that happens the team needs a better quarterback than Stick to keep the team afloat.
Ryan Tannehill is an option but he might be looking for something more secure with a team whose quarterback gets hurt for the entire year. If that is the case, the Chargers can instead target a quarterback from a team that has one quarterback too many: the Cleveland Browns.
Tyler Huntley or Dorian Thompson-Robinson could be Chargers quarterback targets
If it gets to the point where the Chargers are concerned about Herbert missing time and the team has to make a move then there is no better team to target than Cleveland. The Browns currently have four quarterbacks on the roster who are all better than Stick. One of them has to be cut.
Second-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and former Raven Tyler Huntley are battling it out for the QB3 spot on the roster. One of them is naturally going to miss out on a roster spot, opening the door to come to Los Angeles.
Both quarterbacks would fit a Greg Roman-style offense much better than Stick is. Huntley has direct experience in this offense as he started several games for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. DTR, meanwhile, started three games for the Browns last season and went 1-2.
Huntley is definitely the better quarterback option than DTR, who is more potential than anything else at this stage. The hope for the Chargers is that the Browns bet on the youth of DTR since he is a recent draft pick, doing Huntley a favor and cutting ties in the process.
Of course, the Chargers could always force something to happen with a trade. A seventh-round pick would be enough to trade for Huntley and the Chargers have the picks to trade. Los Angeles has an extra pick in the sixth and seventh round next year, in addition to any compensatory picks the team gets.
If it gets messy, the Chargers could even afford to trade a sixth-round pick for Huntley. Hopefully, it does not come to that and Herbert returns healthy, but if not, this might be the best route to take.