The LA Chargers are entering a new era under head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2024. Several familiar faces who were key figures have left the Chargers at the start of this new era. That is simply the nature of the beast when a new head coach takes over.
Those who made it and are still on the team are not guaranteed to be with Harbaugh during his entire Chargers tenure. There are certain players on the roster who are only going to get one year with Harbaugh as 2024 will definitely be their last in LA.
Of course, there are plenty of practice squad-quality players and lesser-known talents who will be leaving the Chargers after 2024. Here are the bigger-name players who will almost certainly be on the way out after the 2024 campaign.
3 Chargers who are entering their last season with the team:
Khalil Mack
There were no guarantees Khalil Mack would even make it to the 2024 season. The Chargers needed to free up cap space as the team was well over the salary cap heading into the offseason. With Mack's age and the amount the Chargers would save by cutting him, it seemed destined he would be the one to get the boot.
Instead, he took a pay cut alongside Joey Bosa while Mike Williams and Keenan Allen got the boot. This pay cut from Mack added a void year in 2025 that will result in an $8.8 million cap hit, per Over The Cap.
Mack will be 34 next season and even with the void year it seems unlikely that the Bolts will bring him back. Joey Bosa will still be on the books and the team also has Tuli Tuipulotu, who will be entering his third season in 2025.
A great season in 2023 made Mack a priority for the Chargers to retain this offseason but that likely will not be the case again. Mack will either show his age or have another great season to raise his free-agent price. Both will result in his Chargers tenure ending.
Donald Parham
Signing Donald Parham should go down as a success story for the Bolts. Los Angeles signed Parham out of the XFL ahead of the 2020 season and he has turned into a red-zone target for the Bolts who has come up with big catches in key spots.
That being said, Parham isn't cut out to be a tight end who teams can rely on. If he was then the Chargers would not have made it a priority to add both Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst this offseason. Neither of those guys are TE1-caliber but they still will likely get more playing time than Parham.
Parham is a free agent after the season and this current Chargers regime does not have the same attachment to him that the previous regime does. Parham may need an incredible season to earn his spot back in LA and with how the room is constructed, he may not have a chance to do that.
Instead, it is much more likely the Chargers continue to roll with Dissly as the blocking specialist while targeting a specific Michigan tight end early in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Kristian Fulton
The Chargers signed Kristian Fulton to a one-year deal this offseason and it seems unlikely he will sign another contract with the team given his track record. There is nothing wrong with betting on getting the most out of someone but Fulton has been wildly disappointing in recent years.
Fulton was statistically one of the worst cornerbacks in the sport last season with worse coverage stats than Michael Davis, per Pro Football Focus. All season Chargers fans complained about Davis being one of the worst CBs in the sport and the team somehow signed someone who was worse.
Could defensive coordinator Jesse Minter get more out of Fulton? Perhaps. But at some point, a player is who he is and it is hard to imagine him coming to LA as a completely different player. Fulton is a one-year depth-option stopgap who likely will be looking for another new team in 2025.