Chargers surprisingly waive Tony Jefferson after excellent preseason (for a reason)

The LA Chargers cut the roster down to 53 players on Tuesday and one of the key decisions fans were waiting to see is who the team chose to round out the secondary.

Los Angeles opted to keep both safety Tony Jefferson, who had an exceptional game in the preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys, and safety-turned-cornerback JT Woods. Woods did not last very long on the 53-man roster, as the Chargers quickly waived him to make room for waiver-wire claim, Hassan Haskins.

Shortly thereafter, the Chargers traded a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for cornerback Elijah Molden. With the Bolts having five running backs on the roster, many assumed the team would waive Jaret Patterson to make room for Molden, especially after the team already waived Woods to make room for Haskins.

That is not the route the Chargers decided to take. Instead, the team waived Jefferson on Thursday morning, leaving every Chargers fan scratching their head.

Chargers likely have a plan for waiving Tony Jefferson

As surprising as it is to see the Chargers waive Jefferson after choosing him over other young defensive backs, the Bolts likely have a plan. Jefferson is planning on re-signing with the Bolts' practice squad and that is the key point in this transaction.

This is classic roster manipulation at its finest by the Chargers. By keeping Jefferson on the practice squad, the Chargers not only keep him in the building but essentially create an extra roster spot while still being able to use Jefferson early on in the season.

Practice squad players can be elevated three times to the active gameday roster before they have to be signed to the 53-man roster. By approaching Jefferson's roster spot this way, the Chargers can keep him on the practice squad early on, elevate him three times early in the season, then eventually trim the fat of the roster by signing him to the 53-man roster.

This will allow the team to carry five running backs, which is extra important considering both Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins have their fair share of injury concerns.

The only drawback to this plan is it resulted in standout young safety Thomy Harper leaving the team. Harper did not make the 53-man roster and was claimed by the Las Vegas Raiders on the waiver wire.

Maybe the Chargers could have waived Jefferson first with the plan of re-signing him to the practice squad then waived Harper at a later time hoping that he would pass through waivers because, in theory, the Raiders may have claimed someone else first.

But, the Chargers likely didn't know they would be able to trade for a starting-caliber cornerback for an extremely low price. Either way, Jefferson is sticking around and will be back on the 53-man roster at some point in the near future.