The Los Angeles Chargers have close to 25 players set to hit some sort of free agency when the new League Year begins in March, and one could easily assume the Bolts would be willing to part ways with at least half of the names on the list. And that's being generous.
On the defensive side of the football, the biggest name on the list is easily Khalil Mack, who is playing this 2025 campaign on a one-year contract and seems content on signing one-year deals for as long as he wants to continue to play. One would think the Bolts would bring him back if he does indeed decide to play in 2026, though perhaps not at the $18 million he received this season. Mack continues to play at a high level, of course, but let's not pretend he's in his prime anymore.
What the Chargers might not be willing to do, however, is bring back another veteran defender on the decline, that being linebacker Denzel Perryman.
Denzel Perryman could be shown the door by the Bolts for a second time after this season
The Bolts, of course, already let him walk out the door once. The former Miami Hurricane showed plenty of promise as a rookie after the Chargers took him in the second round of the 2015 draft with the 48th overall pick, but his inconsistency in the five seasons that followed led Los Angeles to part ways with him following the 2020 campaign, at which point he signed a two-year deal with the Carolina Panthers, only to be traded to the Las Vegas Raiders a few months later.
After two seasons in Sin City, the first of which resulted in his first Pro Bowl selection, Perryman played the 2023 season with the Houston Texans before rejoining the Chargers ahead of the 2024 season on a one-year, $2.3 million deal.
The Florida native didn't have an overly productive 2024 campaign, but played just well enough to earn another one-year contract for 2025 worth up to $2.655 million. Viewed by most as more of a depth piece who could aid in the development of Daiyan Henley and Junior Colson, Perryman's role changed a bit when Colson was lost for the year during training camp after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
But things just haven't worked out well. For starters, Perryman has missed time himself, sitting out five games after suffering a high-ankle sprain in the Bolts' Week 1 win in Brazil over the Kansas City Chiefs.
But even when he has been on the field, he simply hasn't been all that productive, amassing just 22 total tackles (15 solo, seven assists), one tackle for loss, no sacks, no QB hits, and a pair of passes defended in his six appearances.
Perryman hasn't taken enough snaps to have a ranking on PFF's overall linebacker list, which currently includes 83 players. But if he did, his 45.7 overall defensive grade would rank 76th. That 45.7 mark is the worst of his career, by the way.
Breaking it down further, his 55.5 pass-rush grade would rank 65th, his 55.2 run-defense grade would rank 68th, and his 42.8 coverage grade would rank 69th.
I'm not one to say that PFF grades are everything, as they often don't tell the entire story of what's happening with a player. But when they're that bad, it's hard not to notice.
Perryman turns 33 on December 5, so that's certainly something to take into account, and while the Bolts could conceivably bring him back on another one-year deal for depth purposes, they might best be served to just cut ties with him once again once this season comes to an end.