The Los Angeles Chargers' 2024 offseason was both an exciting and frustrating experience for the team's fans. What began with excitement when the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh to be their next head coach led to sadness as Keenan Allen and Mike Williams departed LA due to the salary-cap purgatory the team was in.
And then there was the wild and insane theory that somehow the Chargers would unload the quarterback in which they had just made a 5-year $262 million investment in. Incredibly, there was a real belief that the Chargers would trade quarterback Justin Herbert.
Never mind the fact that Jim Harbaugh glowingly praised his QB from the moment he returned to Southern California. Or the fact the Chargers would have had a $63.5 million dead cap charge this season after digging out of cap purgatory.
Somehow, someway, and utterly ridiculously, there was rampant speculation and even an expectation that Jim Harbaugh could want to move on from Herbert and draft former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy as his replacement. This grew so out of control that teams even called the Chargers inquiring about Herbert's availability.
Instead, the team doubled down on its franchise quarterback and drafted one of the best tackles to protect him. The Chargers then moved up in the second round to draft another weapon for the quarterback the team “wanted” to move on from.
The fact is that a key reason that Jim Harbaugh left his life in Ann Arbor for Los Angeles was because he was enamored with the opportunity to coach a generationally talented quarterback in Justin Herbert.
Harbaugh all but confirmed that by once again gushing over Herbert on Tuesday.
glad 10's on our side pic.twitter.com/0SV332YCVo
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) June 11, 2024
Jim Harbaugh continues to prove that the Justin Herbert Chargers trade rumors were bogus
This week is the final week of the Chargers' offseason program before training camp begins in about six weeks, and Harbaugh cannot stop gushing about his QB.
No matter how much you try to spin it, these are simply not the words of a coach who ever wanted to move on from his quarterback. These are the words of a coach who came to this team because of its quarterback.
There are many fair questions to ask about this team as training camp and the 2024 season loom; most of which do not yet have an answer
Have the Chargers done enough to give Justin Herbert the weapons he needs to compete in a division where Patrick Mahomes lives? Will the offensive line protect Herbert better this season so the face of the team does not suffer repeated injuries? Does Harbaugh and Greg Roman’s philosophy of run-heavy offense work in today’s NFL? Has the defense improved enough to compete in a loaded AFC? How long will the Spanos family allow Harbaugh to run the operation his way? Will Harbaugh last three years, four years, or for the next decade? On his fourth offensive scheme, have the Chargers already permanently wasted the talent of their quarterback?
The one question that was never fair and was never true, is the question of the dedication that this team and its coach have to Justin Herbert. That question is now answered... not that it ever needed to be. Justin Herbert is the franchise.