Los Angeles Chargers Offseason Preview

This is the final installment in a series about NFL previews. Stay tuned at the end for links to the other installments!

2025 Season in a Nutshell

Two recent first-round picks – tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt – were on injured reserve by midseason. But Jim Harbaugh rallied the troops. Jesse Minter’s no-name defense took over some games against weak offenses. Justin Herbert played very well under the circumstances. (Few play better “under the circumstances” than Herbert.) The Chargers manufactured enough wins to tumble into the playoffs, where they once again proved to be roughly the seventh-best team in the AFC.

In other words, it was a typical Chargers year.

Coaching Situation

Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel could turn out to be the perfect NFL odd couple: Harbaugh can sing fight songs and handle anything that remotely resembles leadership/management/discipline while McDaniel doodles offensive play concepts on his office walls and dreams up easy scripted throws for Herbert.

Passing game coordinator Adam Gase adds a drop of arsenic to the broth. Gase materialized in a poof of brimstone the moment Sam Darnold led a playoff victory; you just know he’s been taking credit behind the scenes for “developing” Darnold for two years. NFL decision makers have the long-term memories of guppies.

Chris O’Leary, a Chargers assistant in 2024 who coordinated Western Michigan’s defense last year, replaces Minter. If Harbaugh is now collecting failed Dolphins head coaches, he should have at least made an offer to Brian Flores.

Quarterback Situation

Justin Herbert is the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

State of the Roster

Alt underwent ankle surgery in November. He should be healthy for the start of training camp.

Slater’s torn patella is a greater worry; such injuries often have long-term impact. There was talk of moving Slater to center before Friday’s reports that the Chargers will sign Tyler Biadasz. Guard Mekhi Becton was also in and out of the lineup last year; Becton was released during the editing of this feature.

In other words, the Chargers could have one of the top three offensive lines in the NFL or a middling one, depending on Slater’s MRI results and how the interior reshuffling shakes out. Their offense, which has been oddly lacking in dynamic playmakers since Herbert’s arrival (Keenan Allen led the team in receptions and yards at age 73 last year), will likely follow suit.

Khalil Mack and Derwin James are the big-name veterans on defense. But Tuli Tuipulotu, Tarheeb Still, Teair Tart and Daiyan Henley were among the unheralded younger players who blossomed under Harbaugh and Minter in 2024-25. Tuipulotu (13.0 sacks in 2025) will be a superstar once folks learn to spell and pronounce his name.

Cap and Draft Stuff

The Chargers possess $84.5 million in cap space. Biadasz’s compensation is not included in that figure.

Mack, Allen and Tony Jefferson are aging free agents with a little left in the tank. If Harbaugh decides to keep any of them, it should be on short, incentive-heavy deals. Mack plans to test free agency in search of one last payday before retirement. Interior offensive lineman Zion Johnson and edge Odafe Oweh (a half-season rental who played well last year) should be higher retention priorities.

No matter who they decide to keep, the Chargers will have some money left over to go shopping for offensive playmakers, offensive line reinforcements or tone-setters on defense.

The Chargers pick 22nd, 55th and 86th in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft. They traded their fifth-round pick for Oweh.

One Thing the Chargers Should Do

Sort out the receiving corps. Is Ladd McConkey really a thing? Will Quentin Johnston ever be more than a track star who almost catches Herbert bombs? What’s Tre Harris’ role supposed to be? Why can’t anyone take targets away from Allen? Were these guys held back by the offensive line crisis in 2025? The Chargers need clarity at the skill positions as much as they need talent. Fortunately, clear thinkers McDaniel and Gase are on the case!

In Summary

The Chargers have been a franchise on the rise that never quite rises for roughly a decade. They’re a perennial spring fashion, and this year will be no exception: the Slater + Alt + McDaniel + $81 million + 11 wins last year = Contender calculus is elementary.

My skepticism about all of the principal characters only provides so much counterbalance: Harbaugh, Herbert and McDaniel are all good at their current jobs, the Chiefs are no longer an adamantium ceiling on the AFC West, and getting healthy could indeed result in getting much better.

Let’s put it this way: the Chargers are unlikely to get worse, unless a meteor hits their training camp (likelihood: 5%) or Gase releases Joker gas in their HVAC system (likelihood: 10%). In the wide-open 2026 AFC, if you aren’t backsliding, then you might just be advancing.

Offseason Previews: The Checklist

I hope folks have enjoyed reading the Offseason Previews series as much as I enjoyed writing it. Or, as much as I enjoyed the first 20 installments or so; it became a little bit of a drag toward the end.

If you missed an installment, are new to the series, or just want one convenient set of links for the whole series, here you go!

Arizona Cardinals: They have already cut Kyler Murray, which may be the most interesting thing they do in all of 2026.

Atlanta Falcons: This one was mostly boilerplate Falcons slander, as I recall.

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter : John Harbaugh :: Mike Vrabel : Bill Belichick.

Buffalo Bills: This was largely Brandon Beane character assassination.

Carolina Panthers: The Panthers are a punk band.

Cincinnati Bengals: Wi not trei a holiday in Sweden this yer?

Chicago Bears: I say nice things about Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams!

Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken, glorified interim head coach.

Dallas Cowboys: This was the first installment. It was mostly George Pickens stuff. The Cowboys have since managed to franchise-tag Pickens without forgetting their password to the NFL transaction portal or something. Progress!

Denver Broncos: See the loveli lakes.

Detroit Lions: Everyone keeps retiring. Not a great sign.

Green Bay Packers: In which I am strangely pessimistic about Jordan Love, perhaps because the Packers keep losing by three points to teams with absolutely no offense.

Houston Texans: They’ve traded half of their terrible offensive linemen since I wrote this. I may discuss some of the trades in next week’s pre-Tampering Walkthrough. Or perhaps not. They were mostly silly trades.

Indianapolis Colts: I will DEFINITELY be covering the Colts in next week’s pre-Tampering Walkthrough.

Jacksonville Jaguars: And mani interesting furry animals.

Kansas City Chiefs: We’re all just waiting on a Travis Kelce decision. And maybe a Trent McDuffie trade. And perhaps Tyreek Hill doing donuts on Andy Reid’s front lawn until the Chiefs re-sign him.

Las Vegas Raiders: Maxx Crosby is a whiny diaper man.

Los Angeles Chargers: Scroll up!

Los Angeles Rams: I called the potential Cowboys bolloxing of the Brandon Aubrey situation in this one, as well as the Rams’ self-negotiations over a Stafford extension. Seriously: no negotiation tactic in the world is as effective as just ghosting until the other party’s self-esteem craters and they offer you ANYTHING just to acknowledge them. If it works on Sean McVay, it will work on anyone.

Miami Dolphins: Including the majestik moose.

Minnesota Vikings: J.J. McCarthy is the worst Tinder date ever.

New England Patriots: This was mostly post-Super Bowl trolling. It wasn’t all that informative, but it sure was therapeutic!

New Orleans Saints: A moose once bit my sister...

New York Giants: This one was written early in the series, before the New Harbaugh Smell had worn off.

New York Jets: Probably just a bunch of insults. I don’t remember writing it.

Philadelphia Eagles: Pessimism and scorn.

Pittsburgh Steelers: I ripped the Steelers for lacking any plan or dignity. Then I did it again a few days later.

San Francisco 49ers: More like the San Francisco MRIners, amirite?

Seattle Seahawks: I compare the Seahawks to the great NFC teams of the late-20th century, who were often all clustered in the same division.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Maybe running it back yet again isn’t the best plan.

Tennessee Titans: No realli! She was Karving her initials on the moose with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush given her by Svenge—her brother-in-law— an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian movies: “The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist”, “Fillings of Passion”, “The Huge Molars of Horst Nordfink”...

Washington Commanders: I have zero memory of what I wrote in this one. It probably had something to do with the coaching changes.

(Note: the people responsible for writing these blurbs have been sacked.)

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