A Gerald Everett trade is the dark horse Chargers move nobody is talking about

The LA Chargers signed Gerald Everett to a two-year contract during the 2022 offseason and for the most part, the signing was a success for the Bolts. There were some gaffes along the way but Everett was a prominent part of this passing offense and had the best season of his career as a result.

Everett finished the season with 58 catches for 555 yards and four touchdowns. That made Everett one of nine tight ends in the NFL to finish with 50+ catches, 500+ yards and 4+ receiving touchdowns.

In an offseason where the Chargers need to free up salary-cap space, Everett's name has not been brought up much. Everett's contract is not set up well to be a cut candidate, however, trading Everett is something that would free up a decent chunk of salary-cap space.

Los Angeles would free up $5.75 million in cap space with only a $2.5 million dead cap hit if the team was to trade Everett before June 1. It might seem absurd right now in early February but there is reason to believe that this could happen.

Why the Chargers could trade Gerald Everett this offseason:

This all hinges on the team's plans in the 2023 NFL Draft. There was already speculation that the team could target one of the premier tight ends early in the draft either in Michael Mayer or Dalton Kincaid. With the current construction of the tight-end room, that doesn't seem likely.

Donald Parham is a restricted free agent that is likely coming back and as bad as Tre' McKitty was, they are not going to cut him before his third season. With Everett on the roster, it seems really unlikely that the Chargers would use premium draft capital to field a roster with four tight ends.

If the Bolts do want to select one of the premium tight ends then trading Everett makes all the sense in the world. This would allow said rookie tight end to instantly come in and be a prominent part of Kellen Moore's offense while maintaining a room of Parham and McKitty behind him.

The Chargers would also get draft capital that they can use in later rounds as well to plug other holes. Everett is not going to warrant a big return in a trade but the Chargers could still get between a fourth and sixth-round pick for the tight end from the right team.

Los Angeles would get cap space, would open a roster spot for a potential high draft pick and would get drat capital in return. That is the best way to maximize the team's resources instead of potentially drafting a tight end in the first two rounds to have a four-man tight-end room for a year.

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But of course, this all hinders on the team's potential desire to draft one of these premium tight ends. If the Chargers don't have any desire to go that route then this will not happen.