On Wednesday evening, the LA Chargers officially parted ways with Joey Bosa. Despite GM Joe Hortiz saying he'd "love for him to retire a Charger", the situation felt untenable unless somebody budged. A $36.4 million cap hit in 2025 given Bosa's recent injury history and production always felt like a bridge that would be too difficult to cross.
Bosa's release saved the Chargers $25.36 million on the cap sheet. Had he been on the roster by the start of the new league year, Los Angeles would've paid Bosa a $12+ million roster bonus.
On a technical level, the Chargers likely already have the financial assets they'll need to conduct their offseason when free agency opens. But there are ways to open up more cap space if Hortiz wants to be aggressive.
More potential cuts for the LA Chargers:
Cutting right guard Trey Pipkins and running back Gus Edwards would save the Chargers nearly a combined $10 million. Pipkins could be out of a starting offensive line job if LA is looking at adding multiple guards in free agency.
A release would save the Chargers $6.75 million in his case. The release of Edwards would only save the team $3.1 million, but he turns 30 in April and has struggled with injuries dating back to the team's 2024 offseason.
It's worth noting at least that Alohi Gilman is a name to watch from OverTheCap's top 100 cut candidates list. Technically, the Chargers could save $4.5 million with a cut. But with how much DC Jesse Minter liked his rotation of Derwin James, Elijah Molden, and Gilman, a release seems unlikely. Hortiz alluded to the use of the three safety rotation with Gilman last week at the NFL Combine.
Chargers can extend Rashawn Slater
Rashawn Slater enters the fifth-year option of his rookie contract in 2025. His cap hit this season is just over $19 million as a result. Hortiz said that the team has had extension talks with Slater. At some point, a deal seems like it'll get done. It's just a matter of when.
If it's closer to the start of the 2025 league year, the Chargers could save themselves some money against the cap for March. When LA extended Justin Herbert in 2023, Herbert's fifth-year option cap hit dropped by nearly $10 million from $29 million to $19 million.
2021 NFL Draft classmate Penei Sewell also saw his fifth-year option cap hit drop by roughly $10 million when he signed his extension last year. Compared to Slater currently, Sewell is on Detroit's books for just $9.5 million this season as a result of his extension.
It's hard to know exactly what Slater's cap hit for 2025 would be with an extension until we have more details. But you're likely looking at $10 million or close to it added to the teams' current $90.69 million cap space figure.
Restructuring Justin Herbert and/or Derwin James
The last option is less likely to me than the first two listed. But the Chargers could execute restructures of Justin Herbert or Derwin James. A max restructure of Herbert would save the team $11.06 million. The same restructure of James would save the team $7.8 million.
Considering the cap space the Chargers already have at nearly $100 million, they probably won't borrow from the future if it's not needed. But if they wanted to pull off an aggressive trade like DK Metcalf in addition to a high spending free-agency period, restructures are an option to give them more flexibility.
Specifically with Herbert, my guess is that they'd wait until a worse financial situation for the team later in his contract to move money around.