Given that the focus of these fixes have all been on offense, you may be wondering when I’m going to address a defense that has struggled this season, especially against the pass.
Call it saving the worst for last.
The problem for the Chargers is this: The more resources they use in free agency and the draft to bolster the offense, the less that’s left to fix the defense. And the Chargers are already projected to be $27 million over next year’s salary cap, per Over the Cap.
But the team doesn’t have any big-time free agents next year that have to be retained. In fact, the three biggest in terms of 2023 salary (Ekeler, defensive tackle Austin Johnson and cornerback Michael Davis) are all expendable.
The new general manager is going to have to re-work some contracts. He or she might even cut a few high-priced veterans to free up cap space. After that, it’ll be time to use some of those resources to fix an atrocious defensive backfield.
Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. isn’t a star, but he’s at least decent and has room to improve. Safety Derwin James has been a difference-maker in the past, but his average annual salary is $19 million, and he’s being miscast this year in a role away from the line of scrimmage.
The Chargers either need to put him where he belongs (as a box safety) or move on and use the cap savings to upgrade the cornerback position and re-sign safety Alohi Gilman.
A lot of this can be attributed to the Jackson fiasco. He and Samuel were supposed to be the team’s starters at corner for years to come.
But that didn’t work. So it’s on to a new plan, because asking Herbert to win shootouts every week isn’t working.
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