4 teams Chargers may trade Joey Bosa to after restructuring Khalil Mack
By Jason Reed
Update: It was reported that Joey Bosa restructured his contract with the Chargers. A trade is still possible, but early reports indicate that he restructured his contract to stay in LA.
The LA Chargers had to get cap-compliant on Wednesday by the start of the league year and made one predictable move with one unexpected move. Los Angeles predictably (but still painfully) released Mike Williams in addition to surprisingly restructuring Khalil Mack's contract to create space for the incoming free agents.
The Chargers have done enough for now to settle the cap-space situation but more moves may need to be made. Los Angeles still has to pay its draft class as well as any other incoming free agents the team wants to sign.
For that reason, the futures of Keenan Allen and Joey Bosa are still up in the air. After cutting Williams, the odds of the team cutting Allen are slim to none and LA may just extend him to reduce his cap hit. Bosa, on the other hand, is more likely to be traded after the team struck a deal to keep Mack.
And if the Chargers do end up trading Bosa, there are several destinations that make the most sense.
Chargers may trade Joey Bosa to the Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions looked like a perfect fit for Khalil Mack so they are naturally a fit for Bosa as well. Detroit has one great young pass-rusher in Aidan Hutchinson but could definitely use a marquee, veteran pass rusher on the other side of the defensive line.
On paper, Bosa would give the Lions just that and would be a reasonable swing for a team like Detroit to take after making a deep playoff run last season. The free-agent market is pretty thin and the Lions pick so late in the first round, so the odds of landing an impact guy are more of a crapshoot.
Bosa won't warrant much in a trade (which will be a trend with all of these teams) because of his injury concerns. That being said, the Lions have seven picks at their disposal in the draft to trade, including an extra third-rounder from Minnesota in place of the team's fourth-rounder.
A third-round pick is probably a bit too rich for Bosa, so the Chargers may have to settle for a fifth and another future day three pick from Detroit.
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