3 players the LA Chargers held on to for too long

Building a great football team is very difficult. It is a puzzle that changes significantly season from season with so many external factors; some of which are easier to predict than the others. Compared to their peers, the LA Chargers have not been great at this with only three playoff appearances in the last decade.

Knowing when to cut ties with players is such an important aspect of the job and it is something that Bill Belichick has mastered in New England. The Chargers haven't always been very good at this as there is a sad list of players that the Bolts gave up on too soon.

But there is also the contrary. There are players that had longer tenures than they deserved with the Chargers for reasons that are unknown.

3 players the LA Chargers held on to for too long

Michael Badgley

We wanted to have at least one recent name on the list and Michael Badgley is the only player that made sense. Sure, some fans may argue Jerry Tillery or even Kenneth Murray but those are first-round picks. It is not uncommon for those players to go into the final year of their rookie deal.

Badgley on the other hand was a kicker who never really seemed to be that great but had a promising short stint of kicks that prompted the team to believe in him. The Chargers have been desperate for a good kicker with such a bad history of them that any time there is promise the team has over-committed.

Badgley missed half the game in 2019 and was not even that great in the ones he played. He did not make a field goal of 50 or more yards and his field goal percentage dropped 12.5%. That continued into 2020 as Badgley's field goal percentage dropped another 8.6%, giving him a percentage of 72.7%.

Despite his struggles, he lasted the entire season and attempted 33 field goals for the Chargers. Badgley's 72.7% is the second-lowest field goal percentage a kicker has had with at least 30 attempts in the last five years. It is the fifth-lowest of the last decade. That is how bad it was.