Derwin James holds in and other Day 1 Chargers Training Camp takeaways

2022 Chargers Training Camp kicked off on Wednesday with several storylines swirling as the team made its first true push towards the new regular season.

With just over two weeks to go until the Chargers play the Rams in Week 1 of the Preseason, seeing how the depth chart shakes out and which players see the field the most is an important tool. The right tackle battle, amongst several other key positional battles, are the clear focuses of seeing which players rise to the top at this time.

3 main takeaways from day 1 of Chargers training camp:

1. Derwin James holds in

Derwin James reported to Chargers training camp on Tuesday in spite of his contract situation, which signaled that both he and the team are in a good place when it comes to negotiations. On Wednesday, Brandon Staley did confirm that both James and the organization will wait on full practice participation for the star safety until his contract situation is figured out.

James missed 11-on-11 drills during OTAs in June after recovering from shoulder surgery, but it seems like he'll be ready to go whenever the contract extension is signed this offseason.

While there will always be some lingering concerns about the contract and James' status on the field until it is official, no one should be worried that it won't get done relatively quickly. The fact that James did report and is holding in as opposed to holding out is a very positive sign for the negotiations.

The Joey Bosa and Keenan Allen negotiations of 2020 and the Minkah Fitzpatrick contract extension with the Steelers provide a pretty clear outline of what the average annual value and total guarantees of the new contract should be. James will become the highest-paid safety in the league. In the interim, it's up to Tom Telesco and David Mulugheta (James' agent) to work out the finer details.

In short: the deal will get done soon and there's not much to worry about.