2025 Chargers Official News | Acquisitions | Transactions | Injuries

[Velo]

I doubt it happens, but there would be enough cap room that they might be able to make a play for Trey Hendrickson? Or Micah Parsons? I say I doubt it because while it would be nice to add a top tier edge player, being a top tier guy is tough to make part of a rotation since they cost so much.

However, if another team loses a starting OT in one of those annoying TC injuries, we could free up Pipkins money by trading him to add to the pot... Then many/most extensions are usually structured with a lower 1st year ...

Kyle Kennard could turn into a fine OLB, but he was a bit of a slow developer in college. While it is way too early to give up on him, I am not sure he is going to be a strong contributor to the 4 man rotation that worked pretty well last year. Mack is still on the top of his game, but it is tough for a guy his age to do that if he has to play 800-900 snaps. Older players who maintain their old skills usually flourish if you can reduce the workload some. And with Mack, we really want him punishing the QB on obvious passing downs and as part of the rotation in the 4th quarter

Teams don't necessarily need a 4 man rotation at edge, 3 is adequate. We were really using for much of last year. Bosa got hurt early, then Mack got hurt later. Adding another edge would give us a 4 man rotation which really showed well last year and it gives Minter extra flexibility to slide Tuli inside which was effective, but we couldn't do much of last year with the injuries to Bosa and Mack.

Again, like the Ravens, the idea is to probably not have too much money invested in any one player. It is a rotation, and while an Alpha/elite guy is nice, the best pass rush teams are doing it because they can prevent offenses from focusing on one guy.

The Bengals will re-sign Hendrickson is my guess. Parsons would be intriguing, but what would he cost in draft compensation? The Chargers may not be top 7 in sacks again, but I think they can still be top 10 within Minter's scheme. The Eagles' D was 15th in sacks last year in the regular season btw. The Chiefs' D 19th.

[Boltinloudguy]

100%. I'd take the under on both of them being Chargers next year. Especially Gilman (not yet seeing what Conklin will bring). Gilman is solid, smart, tough, and has consistently shown average at his best ability to cover good receivers. Mintner covers for average safety play by his shell design, but i've seen Molden flash better in coverage and I think Minkins is gonna be a total breakout steal once he gets to play (may be next year). As they look across the roster to maximize value for dollar and allocate money to improve the roster as much as they can, Gilman will be odd man out. Just business, spending more on Gilman won't make the roster better.

I could be wrong of course

Yea I don’t see them bringing back Gilman next year with Mickens being drafted this year.

Conklin is a different story, if he has a good year, I can see him getting a 1-2 year extension. I can also see them going out and signing TE Charlie Kolar in free agency.

[dmac_bolt]

Which makes one again wonder why the Chargers gave up on Kyle Van Noy.
I haven't heard anything about Kyle Kennard ....no news is generally bad news for rookies, the tendency is to hype them if they show anything.

When was the last time a team won the Super Bowl with an elite edge? .... and I'm not counting Chris Jones, who primarily terrorizes from inside.

KC, Rams, eagles, patriots, .... been a long time

the lack of Kennard puffery is noticed here too. But dude was SEC DPOY ... i'm more wondering how LONG it will take him, vs IF (at this point). I don't think he arrived at OTAs with the strength and weight needed for NFL. He has the frame to add on, but it takes time. We should get to see him on Thursday, it'll be my first look.

[dmac_bolt]

I listened to a bit of the GAC podcast from yesterday with Haglund and he talked about needing cap space next year for Gilman and Conklin - -personally, I think they can wait to "pencil in" for those two guys

100%. I'd take the under on both of them being Chargers next year. Especially Gilman (not yet seeing what Conklin will bring). Gilman is solid, smart, tough, and has consistently shown average at his best ability to cover good receivers. Mintner covers for average safety play by his shell design, but i've seen Molden flash better in coverage and I think Minkins is gonna be a total breakout steal once he gets to play (may be next year). As they look across the roster to maximize value for dollar and allocate money to improve the roster as much as they can, Gilman will be odd man out. Just business, spending more on Gilman won't make the roster better.

I could be wrong of course

[powderblueboy]

I doubt it happens, but there would be enough cap room that they might be able to make a play for Trey Hendrickson? Or Micah Parsons? I say I doubt it because while it would be nice to add a top tier edge player, being a top tier guy is tough to make part of a rotation since they cost so much.

However, if another team loses a starting OT in one of those annoying TC injuries, we could free up Pipkins money by trading him to add to the pot... Then many/most extensions are usually structured with a lower 1st year ...

Kyle Kennard could turn into a fine OLB, but he was a bit of a slow developer in college. While it is way too early to give up on him, I am not sure he is going to be a strong contributor to the 4 man rotation that worked pretty well last year. Mack is still on the top of his game, but it is tough for a guy his age to do that if he has to play 800-900 snaps. Older players who maintain their old skills usually flourish if you can reduce the workload some. And with Mack, we really want him punishing the QB on obvious passing downs and as part of the rotation in the 4th quarter

Teams don't necessarily need a 4 man rotation at edge, 3 is adequate. We were really using for much of last year. Bosa got hurt early, then Mack got hurt later. Adding another edge would give us a 4 man rotation which really showed well last year and it gives Minter extra flexibility to slide Tuli inside which was effective, but we couldn't do much of last year with the injuries to Bosa and Mack.

Again, like the Ravens, the idea is to probably not have too much money invested in any one player. It is a rotation, and while an Alpha/elite guy is nice, the best pass rush teams are doing it because they can prevent offenses from focusing on one guy.

Which makes one again wonder why the Chargers gave up on Kyle Van Noy.
I haven't heard anything about Kyle Kennard ....no news is generally bad news for rookies, the tendency is to hype them if they show anything.

When was the last time a team won the Super Bowl with an elite edge? .... and I'm not counting Chris Jones, who primarily terrorizes from inside.

KC, Rams, eagles, patriots, .... been a long time

[Bolt4Knob]

$14M sounded rich to em, thx K

I think there was a way they could have reduced him down to $5m saving $14m but for what reason. if they truly need to find some cash - they have the means

[Bolt4Knob]

I agree. Gilman has been an ok S, and they seem to be stocking his replacement. keep an eye on Mickens, he’s a player

I listened to a bit of the GAC podcast from yesterday with Haglund and he talked about needing cap space next year for Gilman and Conklin - -personally, I think they can wait to "pencil in" for those two guys

[Fouts2herbert]

I've been saying they have been waiting to get Slater done before they make any big moves. I suggested Hendrickson but I think they are going to wait if they are going to make a move. I think they are going to see what they have before doing anything, IMHO.

I happen to think that outside of the concerns at left guard and center, the edge position is one that I worry about, haven't heard much about Kennard, I like both Tuli and Dupree but more as support/ rotational guys, Tuli reminds me of Nwosu, solid players but not really elite players...I know Joey was made of glass but he also had the ability to take over a game, outside of Mack we don;t have anyone else like that right now on the Edge...

[Fouts2herbert]

I am not locking up Gilman too early. Play out the year . See how the draft picks play and go from there

I wasn't necessarily bringing up Gilman as a guy we "must" resign or anything, there are a lot of guys playing out 2025 as their last contract year, Mack, Gilman, Conklin, Dissly, Haskins, Leonard, J Taylor, Pipkins, Salyer, Zion, Haskins, Perryman, Dye, Fisk, Najee, etc...while a few of these guys might be brought back in 2026, I just can't think of too many of them that the team might want to extend longterm, for some reason Gilman popped into my head because I think he's a playmaker like Molden...

[Chargers8491]

I doubt it happens, but there would be enough cap room that they might be able to make a play for Trey Hendrickson? Or Micah Parsons? I say I doubt it because while it would be nice to add a top tier edge player, being a top tier guy is tough to make part of a rotation since they cost so much.

However, if another team loses a starting OT in one of those annoying TC injuries, we could free up Pipkins money by trading him to add to the pot... Then many/most extensions are usually structured with a lower 1st year ...

Kyle Kennard could turn into a fine OLB, but he was a bit of a slow developer in college. While it is way too early to give up on him, I am not sure he is going to be a strong contributor to the 4 man rotation that worked pretty well last year. Mack is still on the top of his game, but it is tough for a guy his age to do that if he has to play 800-900 snaps. Older players who maintain their old skills usually flourish if you can reduce the workload some. And with Mack, we really want him punishing the QB on obvious passing downs and as part of the rotation in the 4th quarter

Teams don't necessarily need a 4 man rotation at edge, 3 is adequate. We were really using for much of last year. Bosa got hurt early, then Mack got hurt later. Adding another edge would give us a 4 man rotation which really showed well last year and it gives Minter extra flexibility to slide Tuli inside which was effective, but we couldn't do much of last year with the injuries to Bosa and Mack.

Again, like the Ravens, the idea is to probably not have too much money invested in any one player. It is a rotation, and while an Alpha/elite guy is nice, the best pass rush teams are doing it because they can prevent offenses from focusing on one guy.

I've been saying they have been waiting to get Slater done before they make any big moves. I suggested Hendrickson but I think they are going to wait if they are going to make a move. I think they are going to see what they have before doing anything, IMHO.

[Fouts2herbert]

Should of just let him play on his 5th year and start the new contact in 2026, which gives us an extra year with him on contact.

NO, he's still playing out the original 2025 5th year of his rookie contract, that's why this is called an extension, they just add it onto the end of the 5th year, so 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029 are the extension years that he signed on for, they basically did the exact same thing that they did with Herbert's deal...both guys got part of their signing bonus before starting their 5th year and then started their extension the following year and get the second part of their signing bonus...The owners have to put these large sums of money into escrow accounts to ensure that they can honor them, the players don't actually get all of their "signing" bonus at the time of signing like done traditionally and on smaller deals. By spreading the deal out the owners get to draw interest on the accounts while not hemorrhaging all the cash at one time...for the players there could be risk involved if something happens before they get the 2nd half of their bonus, but short term it might allow them to spread the tax hit over a period of several years rather than absorb it all in the year they signed...

I think what the Raiders did recently with Christian Wilkins and what the Saints did with Derrick Carr was to basically recoup money that was already put in escrow as "guaranteed" cash...it's a disturbing trend because guaranteed no longer means guaranteed, the language in these deals stipulates that if the player cannot fulfill his obligations the contract is void which leaves a lot f room for interpretation considering that an injured player cannot miraculously heal himself to fulfill his duties if his injury lingers, sounds like that is what happened to Wilkins, he had the surgery with the team doctors and then his foot didn't heal properly, then when they wanted him to have more surgery he chose not to and to seek alternate ways to heal himself...it's all very troubling...

[dmac_bolt]

Per Popper - these are the cap hits for Slater. It wasn't a savings of $14m -- it was a reduction from $19.04 to $14.8 - so a savings of $4.24m.

Rashawn Slater cap hits based on these reported details... 2025: $14.8M 2026: $23.8M 2027: $31.8M 2028: $29.09M 2029: $33.55M

$14M sounded rich to em, thx K