4 best next moves for the LA Chargers after signing Gerald Everett
By Jason Reed
2. LA Chargers sign Oday Aboushi and Cornelius Lucas
We highlighted both Oday Aboushu and Cornelius Lucas in the previous article that mentioned Khalil Mack's restructuring and after the Everett deal, I would argue that these two continue to make the most sense for the LA Chargers.
Oday Aboushi was playing really well for the Bolts at the start of the season before he tore his ACL in Week 5. While it is absolutely fair to be concerned about his ACL, this also lowers his value as a free agent and the Chargers can theoretically re-sign him for cheap again.
Pro Football Focus projects that he will get just a one-year, $1.5 million contract. If the Bolts can ink him to that deal then they should do it every single time. At the very worst he provides depth.
At right tackle, the team should sign Cornelius Lucas, who is projected to get a two-year deal worth $5 million. Some want and expect the Chargers to sign Riley Reiff to play right tackle but I would rather see the team make the move for Lucas. Reiff and Lucas have very comparable numbers (their career pressure rate is 0.1% apart) and Lucas will come at a cheaper cost. Reiff is projected to get a two-year, $14 million contract.
Lucas and Reiff are on the same level and both even have experience playing on both sides of the offensive line. If the Chargers are getting the same level of tackle then it makes much more sense to spend $2.5 million per year instead of $7 million.
With a combined cap hit of $4 million for these two, the Chargers would have around $2 million to spend in free agency.