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

[northerner]

Spotrac has a market value @ 3yr/70mil. That doesn't seem to jive. I seriously doubt he will even play 3 more years and on top of that 70 mil seems really high. I think he will take less to stay with the Chargers and retire. Maybe he will wait to see what the Chargers do in free agency. Who knows.

if anything, he will get a 2 year deal, with the second year being a bit of a "charity" year. who knows? his number is a big unknown. i think he showed this year that he is slowing down.

[Jack Burton]

with Higgins looking unreachable, Adams is looking like the best "expensive" option. would cost some draft capital and salary cap, but he is the real deal.

Agreed. He’s a proven “Elite X Reciever” who wants to play on the west coast and is looking for a 2-3 year deal. It’s almost too easy……which makes me think it won’t happen…..; )

[Boltjolt]

Adams needs to be released for us to get him. I doubt we are trading anything for him.

[eaterfan]

Which is kind of why I might be willing to throw the Jets a bone with a day 3 pick if Adams were to agree to a new contract. Molden was a bargain both in terms of the trade, the salary last year and this three year contract

Sure, but why would Adams agree to this? If he wants to go to the Chargers he could just wait for the Jets to cut him and try to get other teams to drive the price up. If he doesn't want to go there, her wouldn't take a pay cut.

He gains absolutely nothing by reworking his contact.

[Fouts2herbert]

As important as anything else, Joe Hortiz didn't wait for Molden to hit the waiver wire and hope to be able to claim him. Instead, he sent the future 7th round pick (in 2026, right?) to make it a done deal.

Joe went out and GOT Molden, instead of waiting for Molden to fall into his grasp. Molden then went out and had a season that proved how right Hortiz was to go get him.

and last year we were #5 on the waiver wire to start the season...Hortiz was not taking any chances and he knew already that he had extra picks coming in on the compensatory formula...you can't make these types of moves if you don't have the late round draft capital to make it happen...

[Fouts2herbert]

Every team is going to have their idea of how to value a player. I am just happy to have one of our starters back (depending on how you define starters). But since we spend so much time in our nickel packages, it's hard to see how he doesn't qualify.

But given how much time we spend in the 2 deep look, we still need a 2nd high S unless they plan on putting Gilman out of position there again. Gilman is much better up in the slot in star position, like Derwin. Only with Derwin playing the money position, it makes it hard to find a spot for Gilman.

I don't think Gilman is going to get cut because of the Molden signing...he might not be brought back in 2026 but they are going to run it back at safety in 2025...James, Gilman, Molden, and Jefferson plus a low round draft pick to fill AJ Finley's shoes...I think Minter values experience in his safeties...

[Fouts2herbert]

Mack is complicated. He will cost us $8 mill vs the cap, whether he plays for us or not (from the voided years). So when you bring up $18 mill, does that include the $8 mill from his old contract or not???

As far as metrics, tackles and sacks are poor stats to use to judge edge rushers. His stats because we like to rotate our edge guys. So that decreases his playing time, meaning he can be just as productive from a rate standpoint, but still drop off in terms of overall production. There is obviously more too it with age and injuries, but if the metrics to pay players are based on stats that we are limiting his playing time, then there are some obvious problems with that as a way of gauging performance. Especially at a position like edge, where you have to have 3 or 4 man rotations.

You could say that about who ever replaces Mack, that 8mil is still going to be part of the overall cost of the Edge room regardless...the bonus of keeping Mack cannot be overstated...beyond the numbers he's one of the most important players on the team, then there is the well rounded nature of his game, he's still a brute against the run, that part of his game is still elite, he's durable, he hates the Raiders, and he doesn't hurt us on the comp formula...he's the top edge in the class for a reason, there is no question that he should be back if he wants to be back, the 8mil is inconsequential and will count against the cap the same as if you replace Mack with a different guy that on paper will have a lower cap number but in reality that 8mil still counts and Mack is the best Edge available in this free agent class, so yeah, we get the best if we keep Mack...

[Fouts2herbert]

For Mack, I don't count the 8.9mn - that is on the books whether he for the Chargers are not. I am talking about a one year deal for $18m in cash. So the new contract (however they would work the cap) plus his dead cap of 8.9m will be his cap hit

I understand there is more to being edge than tackles and sacks but if you look statiscally at his career - it was his worst year. If you look at the first 9 games compare to the last 8 regular season games, there was a big difference. So to your point, if they are limiting his snaps more as he is ages - why would they pay him premium dollars if he is not playing premium snaps.

I've read this angle from you on several of your posts, Mack got hurt and for the most part played thru a double groin injury when he should've been held out...he said it was the worst injury of his career and he barely missed time, the man is a beast! you are oversimplifying what happened in the 2024 season and making it sound like he declined towards the second half of the season and that's not the case at all...his season had a dip because he was hurt but over the last 3-4 weeks you could see that he was healing and clearly on an up swing and playing better and better in the final game against the Raiders I saw Mack accelerate like a young man and catch O'Connell from behind, yes O'Connell is not a fast guy but Mack was way behind him and he made up the ground really fucking fast, it was impressive to see him moving like that, it's a testament to the caliber of specimen that he is but also how well he takes care of himself...by the Wildcard game it became uber apparent that Mack was 100% back from those injuries and he was dominant in that game...SO, please stop making it sound like Mack is slowing down, he was injured, played thru it when he probably should've sat and then got back to full speed which is fucking impressive for a guy his age to do in a long ass 17 game season plus a playoff game...the guy is a physical marvel, to be as good as he is at his age after the terrible foot injury that had many people thinking his career might be over, he's one of those rare guys that has that wolverine like healing factor, the guy is special and it has to be a top priority to make sure he's wearing bolts again for the next season or two...

There isn't a single Edge player in free agency that I'd take over Mack right now and all those guys would hurt us in the comp formula...for me it's Mack or Edge in the first round which is probably not ideal considering all the needs on offense, Mack coming back buys us time to develop a lower round Edge player (3rd round?) and gives us the ability to target a weapon for Herbert in the first round, WR, RB, or TE whichever is the best player available at that point...

[Fouts2herbert]

But see - maybe not. Last year they pushed part of his 2024 re-deal to 2025 “Void year”. They can do another 1 yr deal and push part of it to a 2026 void year so that the delta cap hit to keep him a year is less to minimal. The penalty is that part of the bill is pushed to 2026, currently he adds zero on 2026 team cap

Last year they kind of needed to push that money forward, this year they don't really need to, I don't see any reason why they would and that includes if they sign Mack to a two year extension...

[Fouts2herbert]

Spotrac has a market value @ 3yr/70mil. That doesn't seem to jive. I seriously doubt he will even play 3 more years and on top of that 70 mil seems really high. I think he will take less to stay with the Chargers and retire. Maybe he will wait to see what the Chargers do in free agency. Who knows.

the only reason to sign Mack for that contract is because you want to give him his money up front and will expect him to retire sometime before the end of the deal, so a way to pay him more for a shorter period and all non guaranteed money into year three with a big roster bonus set to kick off before he retires...he would only see about 35-40mil of that assuming he even stayed for 2026...don't get hung up on length of contracts and the 70 mil, the important part is going to be how much he gets at signing because that's basically going to be the bulk of what he'll make in the entire deal...signing him to a long deal like that would ensure that he retires a Charger and like I said he's not necessarily going to see all money but giving him that big bonus up front might be all the incentive he needs to finish his career with the Chargers...

[Bolt4Knob]

But see - maybe not. Last year they pushed part of his 2024 re-deal to 2025 “Void year”. They can do another 1 yr deal and push part of it to a 2026 void year so that the delta cap hit to keep him a year is less to minimal. The penalty is that part of the bill is pushed to 2026, currently he adds zero on 2026 team cap

Say he signs a deal with a 40m/2 year with $20m signing bonus. They can take the signing bonus, divide by 2, so that means this years cap hit is $10m plus combined with the $8.9 for a total cap hit of $18.9m+. So really its a lower cap number

They cannot push anymore of the 8.9 because he has zero future years on his contract. Last year, he had one more year to push cap.

[Bolt4Knob]

if anything, he will get a 2 year deal, with the second year being a bit of a "charity" year. who knows? his number is a big unknown. i think he showed this year that he is slowing down.

I am good with this type of contract for Mack
Just like I am good seeing what else is out there that might be better.