[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]
[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]
[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]
After an offseason of cost-cutting and savvy prove-it deal signings, the Chargers are sitting on over $20 million of cap space as of June 12th, according to OverTheCap. Roughly half of that available space will be earmarked for in-season expenses such as injury replacements and a practice-squad budget, but the Chargers still have over $10 million in available spending should they continue to look for roster upgrades.
How upgrade this roster remains to be seen, but Joe Hortiz’s past hints at a creative approach to player acquisition for the upcoming UFA class. It stems from a lesson he learned from one of Baltimore’s biggest organizational blunders, and contrasts perfectly against a recent success.
In the eleven years where Baltimore team building could be compared directly against the Chargers’ Tom Telesco era, Earl Thomas was the only player that Baltimore signed in free agency that cancelled out a future compensatory third round pick. He was the lone “zig” in a clear organizational strategy that “zagged” one direction: build through a compensatory pick strategy, bolster depth with excess draft picks, and focus finances on internal restructures and value-oriented free agents.
Earl Thomas’ storied career in Seattle ended with a leg fracture in a Week 4 of the 2018 season, and Thomas flashing his middle finger to his own sideline. He was a training camp holdout as he attempted to leverage his way to a contract extension, but the Seahawks were transitioning away from their vaunted Legion of Boom defense, shifting their financial resources to accommodate the ascension of Russell Wilson’s career and contract numbers.
Thomas had made it known he wanted top-safety money, but after his injury and public display of discontent to the Seahawks organization, there was uncertainty surrounding the former All-Pro’s market. The Ravens swept in and signed him to a four year, $55 million contract. That average salary of $13.75 million was enough to cancel out the third round compensatory pick they would have earned from Za’Darius Smith’s departure, a major shift away from their usual roster building strategies.
It one of the worst moves the Ravens have made in multiple decades – an organization revered for its stability and management prowess. He was cut before the start of his second season, following a 2020 offseason full of weird off-field distractions and a fight instigated by Thomas in a training camp practice. It wasn’t the first time Thomas clashed with his new teammates, and the team ended up cutting him for “conduct detrimental to the team,” negating his remaining guaranteed money. Even so, Thomas earned $22 million for one season of play (and eventually got another $1.5 million in a settlement with Baltimore after disputing his voided guarantees).
Despite a solid season of play in 2019, Thomas never caught on with another team after this incident.
Around 2022’s trade deadline, the Ravens sent 2023 second and fifth round draft picks and veteran linebacker A.J. Klein for the Bears’ star linebacker Roquan Smith. Smith is a balanced off-ball coverage backer that was due to hit free agency in 2023, and the Bears were in the middle of a complete roster overhaul.
Although it seems unconventional to part with solid draft capital for a player on an expiring contract mid-season instead of waiting to sign him in free agency, the benefits are enormous.
- There was go guarantee the Bears wouldn’t have tagged Smith or attempted to re-sign him
- If he did hit free agency, signing Smith would have cancelled out the highest compensatory pick they would receive in 2024’s draft, up to a third rounder. They ultimately gained a fourth round pick from Ben Powers’ departure.
- Before earmarking $100 million in future financial obligations to a player, the Ravens had a chance to “test drive” Smith, previewing how he fit as a Raven and a leader of their organization… a preview they likely wish they had before committing finances and losing draft capital from the Earl Thomas deal.
Smith ended up being an extremely valuable asset, going from a back-to-back 2nd-team All-Pro with the Bears to earning back-to-back 1st-team All-Pro honors with the Ravens. He extended with Baltimore after his first season, penning a five-year, $100 million contract. A year and a half after its signing, it is still the highest Average Per Year for an off-ball linebacker.
Although they lost their 2023 second and fifth round picks, they gained the Powers fourth in 2024 and are scheduled to receive another fourth from Patrick Queen’s departure in next year’s draft, a roster piece they could part with thanks to Smith’s success with the team.
It’s yet another example of how aggressive you can afford to be with trading draft capital when you have excess picks perpetually restocking your coffers… and the way the Ravens (typically) acquire talent, “aggressive” shouldn’t be confused with “risky.”
The question for Chargers fans becomes: which contract-year player should Joe Hortiz look to trade and extend rather than sign in 2025? It’s well-known the Chargers have plenty of cap space next season and will be active in adding talent next offseason, but if Joe Hortiz learned from the Thomas/Smith comparisons, who is a projected top-earner that would make sense to test out before penning a major commitment?
This is where you let us know in the comments, StormCloud!
Here are a few that might make sense depending on the trade capital expected and an age range between 25-28:
WR – Tee Higgins, Brandon Aiyuk
TE – Pat Freirmuth
G – Tevin Jenkins, Ben Cleveland
C – Creed Humphrey (but no way KC doesn’t extend him and highly doubtful they would ever trade him to the Chargers)
Edge – Zaven Collins (AZ did not pick up 5th year option), Josh Uche, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka
LB – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoha
S – Jevon Holland, Julian Blackmon
C – AJ Terrell, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Paulsen Adebo
I love this list! My two favorites would definitely be Freirmuth and Cleveland- two major positions of need for us!
@kylededi I will be very surprised if this front office does not make at least one in-season trade. I see this organization as playing chess now when for so many years we had Tom “Checkers” Telesco in charge.
Why Cleveland when they have Zion and Pipkins who Harbaugh loves? My favorites would be Freirmuth and Higgins or Aiyuk but again team could use more CB’s….
I’m not convinced Pipkins is going to be an above-average guard and that we’re mostly being fed some coach-speak. All that said, I’d be stoked if I’m wrong!
Cleveland has the strength and athleticism to be Pro Bowl guard, and I just think Pipkins’ strengths (agile footwork, mostly), align better with the T position. I’d hate to see rough guard tape lower his trade value in the offseason.
That said- I don’t think a guard is a great in-season trade, as the line needs cohesion to work as a unit. It’s a trade I’d like to see made before camp, if it were to happen. I font think it does though- BAL needs him this season, and I don’t think his contract will be too punitive on our comp formula.
@kevdiego my list focused more on who “I” was interested in and I clearly stated that a trade for Creed Humphrey was highly unlikely.
I’ve been of the opinion that the Chargers are keeping salary cap available for this season with a specific trade in mind and Harbaugh’s words to Khalil Mack when trying to convince him to stay speaks to that. Khalim said Jim told him “We have this number now, and we can work on building some certain guys up or bringing certain guys in.” Maybe I’m reading too far into things but that sounds like they have targets they want to add when the time is right and they have the capacity to do so. From OTA practice reports and understanding Roman and Minter’s schemes and what they value, I think Safety is the most likely position to add talent at with Center being a close second. This isn’t a Telesco team that’s going to accept weaknesses as part of the normal expectations and I fully believe we’ll see at least one addition before the deadline.
@ryanwatkins I think the space that we have isn’t about some pre-determined player in mind, but rather a “break glass in case of emergency” situation where if a position group gets hit with injuries, the available space allows Hortiz some room to move while keeping the team in a spot to compete.
I hope they aren’t saving cap money for an in season trade. If they are going to spend it, I’d rather they spend it on one or more players who will prepare for and play the entire season with the team.
Roquan Smith was a good example of it working out well, but I’m interested to know how often a player acquired midseason makes a true positive impact in that season for his new team. I don’t know the answer, but I’m thinking it is rare. Obviously, such a player must learn a new scheme, new coaches, new teammates, and on top of that is possibly moving away from family and/or dealing with an unplanned family move. It seems like a lot to ask of a player to do all that and step in and make a positive impact quickly.
2023:Bears acquired Montez Sweat from Washington and extended him. He played fantastic for them down the stretch.
2023: Ezra Cleveland acquired by Jacksonville for a 6th round pick and extended.
2023: Leonard Williams acquired by Seattle and extended.
2023: Chase Young acquired by 49ers for Super Bowl run. Not extended, but I believe will be part of the 49ers comp formula.
2023:Mecole Hardman acquired by Chiefs and caught the Super Bowl winning TD and has been resigned.
2023: Rasul Douglas and an 2024 #5 acquired by Buffalo for a 2024 #3. Top 11 corner.
Several others that had so so results. I would trust this front office to add the right talent if the right deal is available.
Great list. From my post:
how often a player acquired midseason makes a true positive impact in that season for his new team
Most of these players did that, but Cleveland was awful for JAX in 2023.
Still, good examples overall, thanks.
@tau837 crazy that Jacksonville resigned him for such a big deal for what I consider an average player. They paid him $28.5MM over three years. Yikes.
@tau837 While immediate success of an in-season trade would certainly be great, my intention of the article was to highlight that for Hortiz it might not be the primary goal. I like the idea of trading for a player that the team may consider a priority UFA in the upcoming 2025 free agency to make sure he doesn’t get franchised or extended by his current team.
I think Earl Thomas vs Roquan Smith is an interesting case study in how it may be beneficial to “test drive” a player’s presence in your locker room before committing top-positional contracts to them.
Let’s say, for example, the front office likes AJ Terrell, and wants to try to grab him next offseason, but instead of waiting decides to make a move at the deadline. If they mirror the same trade it took to get Rasul Douglas, who had 2.5 great seasons with the Packers and 1.5 years remaining on his contract, it would look like this:
- Falcons send 2025 5th, AJ Terrell
- Chargers send 2025 3rd
If the Chargers were fairly committed to signing him or another CB1 in free agency next year, the net result ends up looking like this:
- Falcons receive 2025 3rd round pick
- Chargers receive 2025 5th, AJ Terrell
- Chargers prevent their highest compensatory pick from being cancelled out, retaining a 2026 3rd or 4th round comp pick
Taking it a step further, if this move frees them up to let ASJ walk when they would have otherwise kept him, he’d likely contribute that 3rd or 4th compensatory that is no longer getting cancelled by extending Terrell vs signing a CB1.
I’m personally a fan of Hortiz maneuvering like this, if he decides too.
It’s an interesting strategy, but I wonder how often the Chargers would know in midseason 2024 that they are committed to (a) signing a UFA CB1 in the offseason, (b) letting a player like ASJ go, and (c) finding a player who can be acquired in trade that is worth dropping from 2025 3rd round pick to 2025 5th round pick. It will be interesting to see.
(I realize this is just one example.)
These types of moves make a lot of sense if you can find the right trade partner and player. It seems that the previous front office could only play checkers when it came to roster construction.
[/et_pb_row]
[/et_pb_section]
