Elijah Molden signing a three-year contract with the LA Chargers prior to free agency didn't necessarily come as a surprise. The young safety balled out in a contract year with three interceptions, a 44.8 opposing NFL passer rating when targeted, and just an 8.9% missed tackle rate on 761 snaps.
In the context of Jesse Minter's defensive scheme, Molden was also key to "unleashing" Derwin James by allowing him to roam around in several spots.
Molden's average annual value on his new extension ($6.25M) cleared what fellow safety Alohi Gilman re-signed for just one year ago by over $1 million. Since Molden's extension, questions have since been sparked about whether Gilman is expendable.
Where does Alohi Gilman stand on the Chargers after Elijah Molden's new contract?
On a technical level, OverTheCap touched on this potential fate in a "Top 100 Possible Cut Candidates" article prior to Molden's extension. Gilman was listed as one of three Chargers' cut candidates along with EDGE Joey Bosa and RG Trey Pipkins.
On a purely financial level, there is benefit to cutting Gilman. With a release, Los Angeles would save $4.5 million against the cap in 2025 when you subtract Gilman's cap number ($6.75 million) from his dead cap hit ($2.25 million).
Some of the reasons for cutting Gilman would stem from the step back he took in 2024. The Notre Dame product battled a hamstring injury throughout the year. His PFF coverage (89.2->54.2) and defense (86.1->55.3) grades did go down from the levels he was at in the 2023 campaign. His missed tackle rate was slightly up from 2023 at 16.4% last season.
That being said, it's hard to believe that the Chargers would willingly cut quality depth and shrink their rotation from what they did in 2024. Even with his injuries, Gilman still played over 650 snaps.
Derwin James, Gilman, and Molden combined to play 2405 snaps last season. Clearly, Minter likes some of the defensive versatility and depth there. When Gilman was placed on IR, the team quickly claimed S Marcus Maye off of waivers.
The Chargers were also aggressive at maintaining their safety reserves in season when Molden and Maye were injured as well. Tony Jefferson became a main roster mainstay while the team signed and elevated Eddie Jackson. Terrell Edmunds was also signed to the practice squad late in the year.
With how valuable Gilman, Molden, and the safety depth are to letting James fly around and play different roles on defense, it's hard to believe the Chargers would move on from Gilman without significant financial incentive to do so. Again, his cap hit is just $6.75 million in an offseason where the Chargers find themselves above $70 million in cap space per OTC's latest projections.
In theory, anyone who can create cap space via release is a cut candidate. Gilman is no exception to that rule. However, the financial incentive of releasing Gilman is likely not enough for the Chargers to willingly create holes in a safety rotation that was vital to their defensive overperformance in 2024.