Official 2025 Chargers Discussion | 2025 Roster Build | Free Agency and Draft

[eaterfan]

Sure, but don’t forget that Joe put a ton of ‘hope’ on a buncha cheap journeyman FAs last year.

Kristian Fulton - $2.89 mil
Will Dissly - $2.63 mil
Gus Edwards - $2.25 mil
Bud Dupree - $2.35 mil
Denzel Perryman - $2.18 mil
Poona Ford - $1.79 mil
Bradley Bozeman - $1.13 mil
Hayden Hurst - $1.13 mil
Teair Tart - $985,000
JK Dobbins - $1.13 mil
DJ Chark - $2.89 mil
Taylor Heinicke - $1.2 mil
Troy Dye - $2.25
———————————
Total of $23.6 mil (made possible by trading away Keenan’s $23 million cap hit)

Ok so Hurst, Gus, & Chark didn’t work out. But the rest of them vastly outperformed their contracts & absolutely contributed to their 11-6 record (yes, even Boze). Considering they were all $1-3 million deals, it’s truly an astounding hit rate. THAT is how you GM, my friends.

And I don’t think big Mike is washed at all. He may not be the long term answer, but I have no doubt he will outperform his $4-6 million contract.

Let Joe cook!

1. There wasn't any other choice last year because of the cap situation.
2. It went about as well as one could hope for.
3. It only got us to a wildcard loss.

I'm not saying the Chargers should have signed all the marquis free agents they could, but the team needs a lot more still and doesn't have the high level picks to fill all the holes and there's still a lot of money available.

[Duck of Death]

Here's an official looking link.

Hortiz ruined my golden mock.

Now he destroyed my dream silver certificate mock.

Joe, you are making wu look bad.

Next up...my bronze balls mock.

It will be a crowd pleaser...or not.

I repeat, let Joe cook!

[richpjr]

I'm not sure how I feel about the James signing. He did not have a good year, and actually graded worse than Bozeman did last year.

[Bolt4Knob]

I'm not sure how I feel about the James signing. He did not have a good year, and actually graded worse than Bozeman did last year.

Haglund from the Guilty as Charged said a lot of it was his OL coach left and they had a new system in place

Really good signing to me. Boze and James can compete for starting Center
Zion stays at LG
Good depth if you have Boze, Salyer and Pipkins

I like it - Becton and James -- wanted those two players!

[eaterfan]

I'm not sure how I feel about the James signing. He did not have a good year, and actually graded worse than Bozeman did last year.

I don't think a one year sample with a terrible coaching staff is the best way to judge. He's been pretty solid and in 2023 he was actually very good. I think he'll prove to be a solid starter here. That's all we need.

[AKFlyFisher]

This is where your analysis is wrong. They have a bunch of money to spend and several positions that need significant upgrades. They don't spend the money evenly across the roster, no team does. Every NFL team has a handful or more of guys getting paid large money, some middle class guys and a bunch of younger players on rookie deals or roster fillers getting paid at the low end. The guys the Chargers are missing out on right now are not getting paid top of the market salaries. they're mid level salaries and we have the money.

The current strategy just means that all positions will be addressed with late cuts, guys who went unsigned for whatever reason (like JK coming off consecutive injuries last year) or draft picks. You've gotta have some big time players on your roster and they usually cost big money.

You don't need big time players. You need a big time team. Football requires 22 players to play well. You look at the market inequalities and you use those inequalities to improve your team's floor. That is exactly what Hortiz did. Even Becton was not an overspend. Players like Adams and Metcalf that folks wanted simply are NOT going to generate that many more wins. That is my point, and that is what Hortiz appears to understand and work from. If football was reduced to only 5 players on the field at a time, then I might agree. My comments do not work in basketball. But they do in football and even more so in hockey.

[Duck of Death]

1. There wasn't any other choice last year because of the cap situation.
2. It went about as well as one could hope for.
3. It only got us to a wildcard loss.

I'm not saying the Chargers should have signed all the marquis free agents they could, but the team needs a lot more still and doesn't have the high level picks to fill all the holes and there's still a lot of money available.

1. Exactly the point. Joe absolutely had his hands tied last year. And yet, they finished 11-6!
2. It went far better than that. He got solid production from 10 out of 13 cheap FAs! Name me a GM thats done more with so little money spent.
3, They were 5-12 the previous year!

Again, let Joe cook!

[wu-dai clan]

Hortiz says,.

.... This Zabel kid is over hyped! Sign James instead lol

So looks like Zion is staying at LG and Bozeman competes for the starting job and is he loses, he is depth.

But James wasn't really better than Bozeman last season so we'll see

"Yo Zion, block this guy over here ! "

(Either Bozeman or James while pointing.)

[eaterfan]

You don't need big time players. You need a big time team. Football requires 22 players to play well. You look at the market inequalities and you use those inequalities to improve your team's floor. That is exactly what Hortiz did. Even Becton was not an overspend. Players like Adams and Metcalf that folks wanted simply are NOT going to generate that many more wins. That is my point, and that is what Hortiz appears to understand and work from. If football was reduced to only 5 players on the field at a time, then I might agree. My comments do not work in basketball. But they do in football and even more so in hockey.

This is true, but even one win is pretty significant in football. Winning 45 either or 46 games in basketball doesn't matter and winning one more playoff game rarely does. In the NFL going from 10 wins to 11 wins, or 11 wins to 12 wins is a big difference and might mean playing at home in the playoffs or going to Buffalo. Winning an extra playoff game means going to the Superbowl instead of the AFC championship.

I agree that it's better to not have holes anywhere than stars and scrubs, but Joe had enough money to get stars and not have holes anywhere this offseason. We also still have a huge hole at X WR. I'm not buying Mike Williams as an answer to anything. We don't have a 2nd pass rusher from either the interior or edge, and I'm not sure we have a run stuffing DT that we can count on. Do we have a CB 1? Do we have a RB who can break a play? Do we have a pass catching TE?

We can get a few of those in the first 3 rounds. Colston may fall. The RB, DT, and Edge classes are good and deep. But that's already 4 spots we need filled with 3 draft picks.

Hopefully we get 1 or 2 more sorted before draft day, but I don't think there are players who solve those issues still out there. I would bring Dobbins back, if possible.

[Lone Bolt]

Nick Hardwick, the Center whisperer, says "I got this"

[CanadianBoltFan]

Sure, but don’t forget that Joe put a ton of ‘hope’ on a buncha cheap journeyman FAs last year.

Kristian Fulton - $2.89 mil
Will Dissly - $2.63 mil
Gus Edwards - $2.25 mil
Bud Dupree - $2.35 mil
Denzel Perryman - $2.18 mil
Poona Ford - $1.79 mil
Bradley Bozeman - $1.13 mil
Hayden Hurst - $1.13 mil
Teair Tart - $985,000
JK Dobbins - $1.13 mil
DJ Chark - $2.89 mil
Taylor Heinicke - $1.2 mil
Troy Dye - $2.25
———————————
Total of $23.6 mil (made possible by trading away Keenan’s $23 million cap hit)

Ok so Hurst, Gus, & Chark didn’t work out. But the rest of them vastly outperformed their contracts & absolutely contributed to their 11-6 record (yes, even Boze). Considering they were all $1-3 million deals, it’s truly an astounding hit rate. THAT is how you GM, my friends.

And I don’t think big Mike is washed at all. He may not be the long term answer, but I have no doubt he will outperform his $4-6 million contract.

Let Joe cook!

I like the signing of Mike and am happy to have him back. I think he will contribute.

I just mean he is 3o with an extensive injury history. I like him as part of the group, not as a starter we are pinning all our hopes on. I would like to see one more good talent at WR from the draft to go into the season with.

[CanadianBoltFan]

Booker sounds REALLY nice right now....

Slater - Booker - James - Becton - Alt

Greedy trenchers!

Always wanting more!! 😂

Let the rest of us get a shiny new weapon!