Official 2026 Chargers Roster Discussion | Roster Build | 2nd Wave Of Free Agency

[YAC]

what's your suggestion for the all of us, or are you just gonna join the armchairs here who bash other people's posts, but fail to offer up any of their own suggestions/solutions ?? !!

First, how am I bashing anyone else's post when I speak of armchair GMs? I'm an armchair GM too, LOL! I'm just appealing to everyone here, including me, to think hard about roster depth.

As for your challenge for a proposed solution...fair enough...I accept!

Here's an example of a very casual/quick off-season build (offense only). This is just an example.

• I saved pick #1 for a Defensive Edge player
• Set aside $42 mil for Oweh and other defensive acquisitions.
• Depth on my line includes a starting-caliber Havenstein, a 2nd round pick in Bisontis and a well-regarded middle round center in Coogan.
• I saved money by not splurging on pricy shiny toys and eschewing the two/three top FA centers

Depth.jpg

[Bolt4Knob]

First, how am I bashing anyone else's post when I speak of armchair GMs? I'm an armchair GM too, LOL! I'm just appealing to everyone here, including me, to think hard about roster depth.

As for your challenge for a proposed solution...fair enough...I accept!

Here's an example of a quick off-season build (offense only). This is just an example.

• I saved pick #1 for a Defensive Edge player
• Set aside $42 mil for Oweh and other defensive acquisitions.
• Depth on my line includes a starting-caliber Havenstein, a 2nd round pick in Bisontis and a well-regarded middle round center in Coogan.
• I saved money by not splurging on pricy shiny toys and eschewing the two/three top FA centers

Depth.jpg

Pocic tore his ACL - why do you want him? I mean Achilles

What do you need with Havenstein if you have Alt and Slater? I get he would be OT depth but 10m for your third OT is a lot of money. Don't see Gilliam leaving Buffalo. Atwell at 2.6m makes sense

[beachcomber]

What the hell happened with Andre James? Did he kick Jim's dog or something? He wasn't chopped liver when he played for the Raiders - he was adequate to occasionally good - far better that what we got from Bozeman. I wonder if he had an undisclosed injury of some kind?

recall him being roughly equivalent to the Boze based on what stats eye saw.... guessin' he's a wash, and prolly best to upgrade there as well as from Bradley ??

[CanadianBoltFan]

Exactly!

If anything this hurts the Chargers. Teams that may have had to cut guys to get under the cap or let guys walk may now be able to keep those guys. Chargers weren't having to make any tough decisions. Now the supply of free agents will decrease and the number of teams able to bid is going to increase (demand increase).

During the covid year when the cap didn't go up, the Chargers were at a huge advantage because they were one of the few teams with big money. A lot of teams had to cut good players to get under the cap because they thought it would rise more. The Chargers were able to be very active. Not all the signings worked out, but they were able to do more.

To put it this way, the Chargers (according to Popper) were going to have about $62 million available (accounting for in season budget and draft picks). Increasing that by $5-10 million is between an 8% and 16% increase. If teams had $10 million in cap space that's a 50%-100% increase in their ability to spend. It's even less for us when you consider they can get an extra $20 million by cutting Dissley, Bekton, and Bozeman. The increase would only be a 6%-13% increase for the Chargers, then.

To put this in a concrete example - with a projected cap of $295.5 million, Baltimore had $5,400,000 in available spending. They would have to make a lot of cuts to afford Linderbaum. Now they have at least $10 million and maybe $15 million in cap space and have a much better chance at keeping him.

Its not that bad for the Chargers. We do not have as much cap space as it looks like, because we have a lot of free agents of our own.

So for all that want Oweh back we have an additional 7-8 million to put towards the 19-20 million he might cost.

[YAC]

Pocic tore his ACL - why do you want him? I mean Achilles

What do you need with Havenstein if you have Alt and Slater? I get he would be OT depth but 10m for your third OT is a lot of money. Don't see Gilliam leaving Buffalo. Atwell at 2.6m makes sense

I'm by no means putting this forward as a highly scrutinized proposal. At center maybe it's Cade Mays, whatever. The point is to decline the itch to chase the very best players and have more good ones.

Why spend so much on a swing tackle?

• Uncertainty regarding Slater's recovery. Possible position move necessitated?
• Reality! Swing tackles play a lot in the NFL.
• Combined snap totals for '24 and '25? Pipkins: 1444 | Alt: 1414 | Slater: 904
• Flexibility. Often gotta move players around on the line.
• Catastrophe mitigation. A bad OT can destroy a game plan, lose a game, break a Quarterback

[eaterfan]

Its not that bad for the Chargers. We do not have as much cap space as it looks like, because we have a lot of free agents of our own.

So for all that want Oweh back we have an additional 7-8 million to put towards the 19-20 million he might cost.

But every other team that might have tried to sign him also has an extra $7-8 million.

I'm not saying it's the end of the world, but this doesn't help the Chargers. It probably hurts them.

[CanadianBoltFan]

But every other team that might have tried to sign him also has an extra $7-8 million.

I'm not saying it's the end of the world, but this doesn't help the Chargers. It probably hurts them.

So the Chiefs now being 50 million over the cap instead of 60 million over the cap hurts the Chargers?

Its all relative. The Chargers are still in the top 5 teams with the most cap space. Now they just have a bit more

[Bolt4Knob]

I'm by no means putting this forward as a highly scrutinized proposal. At center maybe it's Cade Mays, whatever. The point is to decline the itch to chase the very best players and have more good ones.

Why spend so much on a swing tackle?

• Uncertainty regarding Slater's recovery. Possible position move necessitated?
• Reality! Swing tackles play a lot in the NFL.
• Combined snap totals for '24 and '25? Pipkins: 1444 | Alt: 1414 | Slater: 904
• Flexibility. Often gotta move players around on the line.
• Catastrophe mitigation. A bad OT can destroy a game plan, lose a game, break a Quarterback

Well your second point is my theory for the draft. Meaning taking that pick at 22 and seeing if you can turn that into a late 1st plus maybe an extra 3 and 5 or something like that so they have 6 picks in 5 rounds and not 4 in the first 4 rounds

That is a fair point about Slater but that is why I think they need to draft a swing OT - part of the line above as they need young depth

[YAC]

So the Chiefs now being 50 million over the cap instead of 60 million over the cap hurts the Chargers?

Its all relative. The Chargers are still in the top 5 teams with the most cap space. Now they just have a bit more

eaterfan's point is a subtle one, but I suspect he's right. The impact, however, as he concedes...is also likely subtle/minor.

[YAC]

Well your second point is my theory for the draft. Meaning taking that pick at 22 and seeing if you can turn that into a late 1st plus maybe an extra 3 and 5 or something like that so they have 6 picks in 5 rounds and not 4 in the first 4 rounds

That is a fair point about Slater but that is why I think they need to draft a swing OT - part of the line above as they need young depth

• I agree: Love to trade down...but can we find a partner on that dance floor?
• I'd be fine with drafting a swing OT, but he's gotta be ready to play in year one.

[Bolt4Knob]

eaterfan's point is a subtle one, but I suspect he's right. The impact, however, as he concedes...is also very subtle/minor.

Three options
1) Cap staying at an estimate of 295 - OTC.com
2) Cap going to say only 288 from 2025 season -- so 7m lower than OTC estimate
30 Cap going up 7m higher to 302

Option 3 hurts the Chargers where the other two would have helped them more

[eaterfan]

So the Chiefs now being 50 million over the cap instead of 60 million over the cap hurts the Chargers?

Its all relative. The Chargers are still in the top 5 teams with the most cap space. Now they just have a bit more

Kind of, it's also absolute in that teams have to be below the cap.

Let's put it this way, if I need $100 to make rent this month and you have $1,000,000 in your savings account, and we're each given $200, it certainly helps me more than it helps you. It's not a perfect analogy, but basically there is a difference between discretionary spending and necessary spending. There is discretionary cap room and mandatory cap room.