4 Chargers offseason decisions in 2023 that already look like a disaster
By Jason Reed
2. The entire Drue Tranquill situation
The Chargers did everything possible to keep most of the core intact from last season. Tom Telesco uncharacteristically committed to multiple max contract restructures to create cap space for the 2023 season in order to bring back key free agents.
Los Angeles brought back just about every key player from last year's team except one: Drue Tranquill. Like Kyzir White the year before, Tranquill was coming off of a contract year and ended up only signing a $3 million contract with a team other than the Chargers.
The Chargers went out and paid Eric Kendricks twice as much to replace Tranquill. Kendricks is a former All-Pro but is also 31 years old. An anonymous NFL executive slammed the move after it happened with criticism that has ironically foreshadowed reality.
Kendricks wasn't great in his Chargers debut in Week 1 and then he was inactive with an injury in Week 2. This doesn't mean that Kendricks is bound to be awful all season but it probably would have been better to just keep the younger, breakout linebacker for cheaper.
Any time Kendrick misses should not be considered "bad injury luck" for the Chargers. Instead, it is the team succumbing to the same mistakes that it has made so many times in the past.