The LA Chargers made two trades on the day of the trade deadline but they weren't what fans expected. Los Angeles traded a future sixth-round pick for 2022 first-round pick Trevor Penning, who provides offensive line depth despite his subpar play. The Bolts also traded away Ja'Sir Taylor for a 2028 seventh-round pick in a move that will have no tangible impact.
While it's nice to see the Chargers addressing the offensive line and getting draft capital for a player fans never would have expected, there still was a sense of FOMO stemming from the Bolts' deadline. After all, this is a Super Bowl-caliber team that has fillable holes on the roster.
It may seem like a cop out, but there is a legitimate reason why the Chargers didn't make a big splash, and fans should've seen it coming from a mile away. The Chargers simply didn't have the cap space to make a big move, hence the smaller moves.
Chargers' cap situation is the reason for no trade deadline splash
Despite having the second-most cap space last offseason, and this upcoming offseason, the Chargers actually had among the least cap space in the league for deadline moves. Heading into Tuesday, the Chargers had $2.82 in cp space, the third-least in the NFL.
The main reason for this is the Odafe Oweh trade. Oweh came with a rather large base salary playing on the fifth year of his rookie deal. Oweh carries a $9.5 million cap hit with the Chargers in 2025.
Los Angeles had ways to create more cap space by restructuring contracts, namely Justin Herbert and Derwin James. However, it's clear the Bolts didn't see a player on the market worth trading trading draft capital and sacrificing some future financial flexibility. If the Chargers outright had cap space it may have been a different story.
Penning carries a $1.3 million cap hit, while Taylor has a $550,000 cap hit with the New York Jets. The Chargers essentially absorbed less than $1 million in cap space, allowing the team to make these moves while also falling within the budget.
It may not be a polarizing reason. It may not be a controversial reason worth getting fired up about. But it is the reason, and whether fans realized it or not, this was always going to be the outcome for the Bolts on Tuesday.