Official 2026 Chargers News | Acquisitions | Transactions | Injuries

[Bolt4Knob]

I'm not sure what you are implying. Are you saying that our depth will get worse in 2026 OR better in 2026?

If you are worried about 2026 then you haven't been paying attention to Hortiz doing this exact dance over the past two off-seasons already...

Fist off right after the end of the season they will offer futures contracts to 4-5 guys currently on the practice squad that they think have potential to become 53 man roster members or continue developing on the practice squad.

Then they're going to continue to filter out players due to a multitude of reasons age, declining skills, injury history, team fit etc...they will bring back a few of their low cost guys that they like...they will bring back a couple of their mid tier priced guys that they like...they will bring back another 2-3 of their higher end guys that they like...

so of the existing 30-31 guys still under contract thru 2026 and beyond, they'll add 4-5 futures contract guys, another 8-9 of their own free agents, then free agency proper (2-3 guys), then at least 6 guys in the draft barring traded downs, then undrafted free agents, then post draft low end veterans to finish filling out the roster and then maybe a trade or two before the start of next season to finish filling out depth etc...

The pattern has been set down by now and Hortiz is a master of working this, there's no need to worry...the 2026 roster will not only be better but the depth will continue to be a strength of the roster...another Hortiz draft means another 2-4 guys that will contribute immediately and the rest will fill important depth needs...another undrafted rookie free agency might yield another 2-3 guys for valuable depth like Reed, Rodgers, and Wax in 2025...

The better the Chargers do this season the odds of attracting high level rookie free agents and low priced veteran free agents will continue to go up, players will want to come here and more and more we're seeing guys wanting to come back or stay here too...

On top of all this, study the roster, certain position groups are becoming impacted with players already signed thru 2026 and beyond...

QB starter and depth set, either Lance returns or DJ takes over Backup duties...

RB starter set and depth is cheap, even veteran depth plus we low priced guys already in the system that will return cheap...

WR with or without Keenan this group is mostly set with Harris, QJ, DD, KLS, and McConkey...

TE the emergence of OG and inexpensive Fisk returning means there's room for maybe one draft pick, maybe two Hortiz likes to fill needs in bunches...

O-line, right now my gut tells me that Zion will be re-signed, he's playing really well so far this season, Bozeman and Becton signed thru 2026, a high draft pick will compete for either starting center or LG, Sarrell and Deculus might fill out depth as low priced free agent retentions...additonal undrafted free agents, futures contract retentions, and low priced free agents will fill out the depth and practice squad...with the return of Slater the O-line will challenge to become one of the best in decades maybe one of the best ever for the Chargers...

D-line, Tart will be brought back on 2 or 3 year deal, combined with Caldwell, and Egboibe they form the nucleus, another 2 low priced guys in the mold of Hand and Jones will fill out the depth, maybe even Hand and Jones themselves coming back on low priced deals...

Edge, a high draft pick will be invested, he will join Tuli, Dupree, and Kennard...I don't think Mack will play 2025, but if he does, he'll be a Charger... if the Chargers trade for an Edge before the deadline I expect that player to be in the mix for 2026 as well, guys like Thibedeax (?) or Phillips from Miami...

LB Colson returning means there won't be much room here, Henley is a stud, Dye is signed thru 2026, and Wax will be a Charger for next 3 seasons as a restricted free agent...

CB Still and Hart signed thru 2027, Reed and Rodgers same as Wax restricted for next 3 seasons, lower draft picks and undrafted players will fill out depth and practice squad...

Safety James, Molden, and Mickens signed thru 2026, wonder if Jefferson can extend his career another year at the same level he's play ing at and he's inexpensive...

My point in writing this out is to show that the roster is only going to get better, we haven't seen the best Hortiz/Harbaugh team yet, it's coming in 2026 or 2027...fewer stop gap free agents will be needed and almost no TT guys will be left outside of the small core group that Hortiz and Harbaugh like and will keep long term...

Every team has many free agents on a year by year basis. It is the nature of the NFL. So many one year deals for veterans or UDFAs. Not surprising to see a team with a roster in the 30's when the season ends before the futures players are signed
A good GM has a roster build out for three years - so for this year, Hortiz and Maguire should have cap through 2027 and maybe even 2028 as draft picks in rounds 2-7 are signed to four year deals
Hortiz should know where they have depth and where they dont

I am not concerned about Hortiz and roster building. He has a clue

[Fouts2herbert]

Every team has many free agents on a year by year basis. It is the nature of the NFL. So many one year deals for veterans or UDFAs. Not surprising to see a team with a roster in the 30's when the season ends before the futures players are signed
A good GM has a roster build out for three years - so for this year, Hortiz and Maguire should have cap through 2027 and maybe even 2028 as draft picks in rounds 2-7 are signed to four year deals
Hortiz should know where they have depth and where they dont

I am not concerned about Hortiz and roster building. He has a clue

Right after the 2024 season started, after Hortiz did his dance with bringing in low priced free agents to create depth and we started to see that some of them where contributing some people here started posting about how with all the guys going into free agency in 2025 that our depth wouldn't be as good in 2025, LOL...now Hortiz has done it again and not only improved the team but also elevated the depth to match, now the guy I quoted on the long post, I think he's implying that depth will take a hit in 2026...maybe he's the same guy that wrote a similar post in 2024, IDK...all I can see is how this team continues to get younger and younger while steadily improving not sacrificing talent or depth...

We are very fortunate that Dean managed to convince Harbaugh to sign with us and that Harbaugh has those Baltimore Raven connections and brought us Hortiz...

[Boltjolt]

Right after the 2024 season started, after Hortiz did his dance with bringing in low priced free agents to create depth and we started to see that some of them where contributing some people here started posting about how with all the guys going into free agency in 2025 that our depth wouldn't be as good in 2025, LOL...now Hortiz has done it again and not only improved the team but also elevated the depth to match, now the guy I quoted on the long post, I think he's implying that depth will take a hit in 2026...maybe he's the same guy that wrote a similar post in 2024, IDK...all I can see is how this team continues to get younger and younger while steadily improving not sacrificing talent or depth...

We are very fortunate that Dean managed to convince Harbaugh to sign with us and that Harbaugh has those Baltimore Raven connections and brought us Hortiz...

Not sure that was the premise here. We all knew we had more money to spend and next year we will have even more, but this time he can sign guys like Hand and Tart to a 2 or 3 year deal while Caldwell get better to keep that good DT going.

Comp picks are cool as Hortiz has been good hitting on those lower picks but it isnt mandatory we get them. Depends on the situation we are in.
He just likes to get them and it is enhanced by the fact those can now be traded but it just didnt work out this year as we had a lot of holes to fill.
Hortiz did a great job doing that.

[powderblueboy]

I'm not sure what you are implying. Are you saying that our depth will get worse in 2026 OR better in 2026?

If you are worried about 2026 then you haven't been paying attention to Hortiz doing this exact dance over the past two off-seasons already...

Fist off right after the end of the season they will offer futures contracts to 4-5 guys currently on the practice squad that they think have potential to become 53 man roster members or continue developing on the practice squad.

Then they're going to continue to filter out players due to a multitude of reasons age, declining skills, injury history, team fit etc...they will bring back a few of their low cost guys that they like...they will bring back a couple of their mid tier priced guys that they like...they will bring back another 2-3 of their higher end guys that they like...

so of the existing 30-31 guys still under contract thru 2026 and beyond, they'll add 4-5 futures contract guys, another 8-9 of their own free agents, then free agency proper (2-3 guys), then at least 6 guys in the draft barring traded downs, then undrafted free agents, then post draft low end veterans to finish filling out the roster and then maybe a trade or two before the start of next season to finish filling out depth etc...

The pattern has been set down by now and Hortiz is a master of working this, there's no need to worry...the 2026 roster will not only be better but the depth will continue to be a strength of the roster...another Hortiz draft means another 2-4 guys that will contribute immediately and the rest will fill important depth needs...another undrafted rookie free agency might yield another 2-3 guys for valuable depth like Reed, Rodgers, and Wax in 2025...

The better the Chargers do this season the odds of attracting high level rookie free agents and low priced veteran free agents will continue to go up, players will want to come here and more and more we're seeing guys wanting to come back or stay here too...

On top of all this, study the roster, certain position groups are becoming impacted with players already signed thru 2026 and beyond...

QB starter and depth set, either Lance returns or DJ takes over Backup duties...

RB starter set and depth is cheap, even veteran depth plus we low priced guys already in the system that will return cheap...

WR with or without Keenan this group is mostly set with Harris, QJ, DD, KLS, and McConkey...

TE the emergence of OG and inexpensive Fisk returning means there's room for maybe one draft pick, maybe two Hortiz likes to fill needs in bunches...

O-line, right now my gut tells me that Zion will be re-signed, he's playing really well so far this season, Bozeman and Becton signed thru 2026, a high draft pick will compete for either starting center or LG, Sarrell and Deculus might fill out depth as low priced free agent retentions...additonal undrafted free agents, futures contract retentions, and low priced free agents will fill out the depth and practice squad...with the return of Slater the O-line will challenge to become one of the best in decades maybe one of the best ever for the Chargers...

D-line, Tart will be brought back on 2 or 3 year deal, combined with Caldwell, and Egboibe they form the nucleus, another 2 low priced guys in the mold of Hand and Jones will fill out the depth, maybe even Hand and Jones themselves coming back on low priced deals...

Edge, a high draft pick will be invested, he will join Tuli, Dupree, and Kennard...I don't think Mack will play 2025, but if he does, he'll be a Charger... if the Chargers trade for an Edge before the deadline I expect that player to be in the mix for 2026 as well, guys like Thibedeax (?) or Phillips from Miami...

LB Colson returning means there won't be much room here, Henley is a stud, Dye is signed thru 2026, and Wax will be a Charger for next 3 seasons as a restricted free agent...

CB Still and Hart signed thru 2027, Reed and Rodgers same as Wax restricted for next 3 seasons, lower draft picks and undrafted players will fill out depth and practice squad...

Safety James, Molden, and Mickens signed thru 2026, wonder if Jefferson can extend his career another year at the same level he's play ing at and he's inexpensive...

My point in writing this out is to show that the roster is only going to get better, we haven't seen the best Hortiz/Harbaugh team yet, it's coming in 2026 or 2027...fewer stop gap free agents will be needed and almost no TT guys will be left outside of the small core group that Hortiz and Harbaugh like and will keep long term...

On the surface, losing Mack/Zion/Tart/Allen/(Salyer - Pip) seems a lot to make up with the type of signings Hortiz generally makes.
Of course, they have the money to resign some or get others

Nice completeness to this answer.

[Fouts2herbert]

On the surface, losing Mack/Zion/Tart/Allen/(Salyer - Pip) seems a lot to make up with the type of signings Hortiz generally makes.
Of course, they have the money to resign some or get others

Nice completeness to this answer.

Salyer and Pipkins are gone after this year, I think both will cash in during 2025 free agency, but I also believe we can replace the two of them low priced free agents and draft picks, I think Zion and Tart will be Chargers in 2026 and maybe sign for 2 or 3 year deals...Allen will probably be back too on a 1 year deal, I think Mack might retire but if he decides to play again in 2026 I'm convinced it will be with us again on another team friendly 1 year deal...

[electricgold]

Not sure that was the premise here. We all knew we had more money to spend and next year we will have even more, but this time he can sign guys like Hand and Tart to a 2 or 3 year deal while Campbell get better to keep that good DT going.

Comp picks are cool as Hortiz has been good hitting on those lower picks but it isnt mandatory we get them. Depends on the situation we are in.
He just likes to get them and it is enhanced by the fact those can now be traded but it just didnt work out this year as we had a lot of holes to fill.
Hortiz did a great job doing that.

Our 7th round picks should be expendable because none of Hortiz's 7th round picks are on the team anymore.

[Fouts2herbert]

Our 7th round picks should be expendable because none of Hortiz's 7th round picks are on the team anymore.

Hortiz loves the 5th round, he should trade down until all he has to draft is like twenty 5th rounders...build the whole fucking team out of 5th round picks, LOL!

[dmac_bolt]

Hortiz loves the 5th round, he should trade down until all he has to draft is like twenty 5th rounders...build the whole fucking team out of 5th round picks, LOL!

Joey Nickels!

[Fouts2herbert]

Joey Nickels!

Because he's money in the fifth, I like it!

Hortiz will always plead the fifth...

[dmac_bolt]

Because he's money in the fifth, I like it!

Hortiz will always plead the fifth...

Topcat owes us a dime now for our fiver contributions to pun jar … well played F2H

[Fouts2herbert]

just saw that Sarrell and Vidal got elevated from the practice squad for tomorrow's game...

The thing is that the team has a roster spot open and they didn't use it for Foster Sarrell even though Becton is out and both Bozeman and Pipkins are banged up...I think this means a trade is in the works, they're keeping that spot open for a player that will become a Charger in the next couple of days, is Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins or might it be K Thibs from the Giants?

I like Phillips, he's a life long Charger fan like Jefferson, we need more guys like that, guys that are loyal to the BOLT!!!

[dmac_bolt]

just saw that Sarrell and Vidal got elevated from the practice squad for tomorrow's game...

The thing is that the team has a roster spot open and they didn't use it for Foster Sarrell even though Becton is out and both Bozeman and Pipkins are banged up...I think this means a trade is in the works, they're keeping that spot open for a player that will become a Charger in the next couple of days, is Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins or might it be K Thibs from the Giants?

I like Phillips, he's a life long Charger fan like Jefferson, we need more guys like that, guys that are loyal to the BOLT!!!

Saw it where? I’ve been looking for that …

never mind - i see it now on their news page … maybe it was already there. The moves are still not posted on their transaction page which was where I looked for, you know, transactions lol

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