5 running backs that can save the Chargers offense in 2024
By Jason Reed
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Chargers could sign Devin Singletary to help at running back
The Chargers are not going to be able to spend on the marquee running backs in the 2024 free-agent class. Running backs make less than any other skill position in the league but the Bolts already have virtually no money to spend.
Thus, the Chargers are going to have to explore the second tier of running backs in free agency. That is why the most logical path is to sign a running back, draft a running back, and hope that Spiller can improve in his third season.
Devin Singletary is in that second tier of running backs and should be in the Chargers' price range. Singletary signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans that had a $3.125 million cap his this season and it is hard to see him getting anything more than that. If anything, the Bolts could probably get him at a cap hit between $2-3 million.
Singletary has been the RB2 in Houston behind Dameon Pierce. Like the Chargers, Houston has struggled to run the ball this season but that falls more on Pierce and the offensive line than Singletary. When Singletary had to step up as the starter with Pierce injured he thrived. In Week 9 and 10 he combined for 262 yards on 52 carries with two touchdowns.
Singletary is also a pass-catching weapon, which would help replace some of what the team would lose in Austin Ekeler. The Chargers cannot rely on Singletary to be a true RB1 but as part of a rotation, he would add value.