3 potential LA Chargers free agent targets who don't drop passes

RB: Cordarelle Patterson

Cordarelle Patterson has always been a versatile athlete who offered a good return man as well as a Swiss Army Knife offensive piece in his career. However, no team could really crack the Patterson code until the Atlanta Falcons, who turned him into one of the best offensive players in the league this season.

Patterson was the team's main running back and he was a lethal weapon for the Falcons in both the running and passing attack. The former All-Pro return man carried the ball 153 times for 618 yards while hauling in 52 catches for 548 yards. He finished with 11 combined touchdowns and only one drop, giving him a 1.4% drop rate.

He too is an option to return kicks for the LA Chargers, although he returned far fewer kicks for the Falcons in 2021 because of how important he was on offense. The team would also have to have someone else to return punts as he has returned one punt in his career. Realistically, the Chargers could bring Roberts in on a cheap deal to return and try to sign Patterson if they so pleased.

His price is similar to the two other players on this list as well. PFF projects Patterson to get a two-year, $12 million while Spotrac estimates his annual value to be $9.1 million. He will likely get a salary around $6-8 million and he could get a three-year deal that is easy to get out of after the second year.

That is a lot of pay another running back but the Chargers are not paying Austin Ekeler much and Patterson is much more than another running back. Sure, he will provide some depth to the running back room for Ekeler but he is also someone who could be a lethal threat in the passing game in the slot as well.

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Cordarelle Patterson running Texas routes out of the Chargers backfield? That would be really run to watch.