Tau has done a fantastic job here, going over the current cap and contract situation of the team and putting his take on the potential cuts, restructurings, and signings to give an overall realization of what the team is dealing with from a cap perspective. My aim here is to go over the current positional units and their priority to the team before roster cuts and the beginning of the free agency period in March. As we get deeper into draft season, I will also be posting my usual prospect profiles and draft analysis of players and position groups, but here we are focusing on the overall roster construction.
2026 Draft Picks
1 (22), 2 (55), 3 (86), 4 (123), 6 (202)
2026 Comp Picks
None
2026 NFL Projected Salary Cap
315.7M
Chargers 2026 Projected Cap Space (as per Spotrac before cuts)
87,235,325
QB
Priority: Low
As long as Herbert is the starting QB, the priority will be low. I expect the backup QB to once again be a cost-effective vet like Trey Lance, Marcus Mariota or Gardner Minschew. Someone who won’t break the bank but can come in and hold the team afloat if Herbert is out a few weeks. If he ever sustains a season ending injury, the season is shot anyway.
RB
Priority: Moderate
You might be surprised to see a “moderate” designation here, but we saw the rushing attack nearly sunk in 2025 after sustaining injuries to Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris. Kimani Vidal accorded himself well enough to hold down the position and cement himself into the rotation for 2026, but this room needs to add another viable option and maybe a player that fits more seamlessly into Mike McDaniel’s scheme. With cap space high and draft picks scarce, I think this is a position to go the free agency route. Players like Rachaad White, Keaton Mitchell, Kenneth Gainwell, and Emanuel Wilson could all fit the bill. I have a feeling McDaniel will have a role in choosing the RB addition.
FB
Priority: Moderate
The Scott Matlock experiment is most likely over. He is to slow and unathletic to fit what McDaniel’s wants to do from the fullback position. The FB does play a decent role in the McDaniel offense which is why it gets a moderate designation. Some free agent names here include Patrick Ricard, CJ Ham and Michael Burton, but this offensive scheme prefers a more agile, versatile player. There is just as good a reason to think there will be another RB added that can be used to play FB. Jerome Ford and Jahleel McLaughlin could fit the role as could Hassan Haskins.
WR
Priority: Moderate
The WR room seems set for 2026 with Ladd McConkry, Quentin Johnston, Tre Harris, Keandre Lambert-Smith, and Derius Davis under contract, but this unit still needs to add a true deep threat that can challenge defenses vertically. Ideally, McDaniel would like this to be a speed option, but I am sure he can make it work with a big body, contested catch player. Tre Harris performed this role at Ole Miss, but he has yet to be tasked with it in the NFL. As far as Davis, he has shown himself to be nothing more than a returner with some fleeting gadget play ability over 2 different coordinators and KLS has a long way to go to be considered a reliable 20-30 snap per game option. With limited draft capital, and other positions requiring the focus of those picks, this looks like it will need to be addressed with a free agent. Guys like Alec Pierce, Romeo Doubs, and Rashid Shaheed, will probably be priced out, but names like Dyami Brown, Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Nailor could be reasonable options. Again, I think McDaniel will have some pull here.
TE
Priority: Moderate
This unit will have some new faces in 2026. Oronde Gadsden emerged as a true pass catching weapon for Justin Herbert last season, so I expect him to continue to be a big part of the new offensive scheme. McDaniel does use the TE often in his scheme, so I would expect another pass catching TE to come aboard. Tyler Conklin is a pending UFA and Tucker Fisk is a RFA. Neither of these players exactly fit the scheme, and the Chargers can get some more cap room sending Will Dissly packing. Darren Waller had a nice resurgence in this scheme a year ago, so maybe he reunites with McDaniel here, but other free agent options include Harrison Bryant, Greg Dulchich, Charlie Kolar, and Grant Calcaterra. The draft could be another option with a day 2 player like Max Klare or Eli Stowers, but with Gadsden on board, I am not sure if a draft pick will be tabbed for TE.
OL
Priority: Extremely High
This is the worst position group on the team and it’s not even close. The only real player that can be penciled in as a slam dunk starter is Joe Alt. Rashawn Slater is coming off a horrific knee injury that doesn’t have the best success rate for returning players, so at this point what we can expect from him is an unknown. He could be fine, he could be a shell of his former self, or he could be serviceable enough to play RT. The jury is still out, but for the sake of this exercise, we will consider him a starting OT next season. The lack of attention to this unit for the last two offseasons continues to bleed into this season. With the expectation that Mekhi Becton and Bradley Bozeman are cut, and Zion Johnson, Trey Pipkins, Jamaree Salyer, Trevor Penning, and Andre James all hit free agency, means this entire starting IOL and most of the depth need to be rebuilt.
Signing Tyler Linderbaum to play C has been all the rage since the season ended, but considering the amount of resources needed to be allocated to building this unit, he might be priced out of this situation as well as Zion Johnson, especially the way the free agent market blew up for OL players last season. This might be an area where the money gets spread around to fill out the many holes and with the nature of Slater’s injury, I would prefer some guys with G/T flex like Alijah Vera-Tucker, Liam Eichenberg, and Dillon Radunz. This unit cannot be ignored in the draft again and I would expect at least two of our top four draft picks to be used on this unit. This position is either the first or second biggest priority this offseason.
DL
Priority: Low to Moderate
Resigning Teair Tart continues the continuity along the defensive line with Jamaree Caldwell and Justin Eboigbe to create a solid nucleus going forward. Resigning Da’Shawn Hand would be fantastic, but he probably played well enough to price himself out of our range and this regime never seemed to care much for Otito Ogbonnia, so the team is going to need to infuse some talent here. While we are yet to see what new DC Chris O’Leary wants from his IDL, the unit can use another run stuffer. Names like Neville Gallimore, Khalen Saunders, and John Ridgeway could be less expensive free agent options. The draft has some fantastic IDL prospects that could infuse some blue-chip talent to the unit with guys like Lee Hunter, Kayden McDonald, and Peter Woods. Either way this unit is solid already but adding the right piece or two could make this IDL group one of the best in the league.
Edge
Priority: Moderate to High
Odafeh Oweh and Khalil Mack are both UFA, leaving only Tuli Tuipulotu, Bud Dupree, and Kyle Kennard as starting options. When looking at it through this lens, you see why it is a top priority. I expect Dupree to be cut because he is just a warm body at this point, and Kennard is a complete wild card as he was slow to develop in 2025. Tuli is extension eligible and has earned every penny of his future contract. With the cap space needed to fill so many roster spots, there won’t be enough to spend on both Oweh and Mack, so I don’t see a world where both are back together. Mack slowed down during the second half of the season, but what he brings to the team from a leadership and locker room aspect is immeasurable, so if he wants to continue playing, and the team decides not to bring Oweh back, they should be able to work something out. Should Hortiz decide to bring Oweh back, he won’t be cheap as he has earned a big payday that might not fit in our budget, especially if the team really wants to pursue some high-priced names for the OL. Edge is usually expensive to fill in free agency, so the draft is probably the way to go. The Edge group looks to be one of the strongest position groups of the 2026 draft class, so locking up a top prospect in Rd1 could be a strong possibility. Either way, this group will need to inject some talent to the unit.
LB
Priority: Moderate
Daiyan Henley is a borderline Pro Bowl player and Troy Dye is a good depth/ST player, but Denzel Perryman in a UFA and Junior Colson is a complete zero so far in his career. Del’Shawn Phillips and Marlowe Wax have been decent in reserve and ST roles, but I would not be relying on them to become rotational players at the very least. This unit needs more talent, and I can’t see the team spending a day one or two draft pick at LB. Draft picks at LB usually take time to develop at the NFL level and later round picks even more, so I would think this is a perfect scenario to add cost effective, veteran FA. Names like Leo Chenal, Justin Strnad and Christian Rozeboom could be nice additions. If Colson finally hits, this grade changes to low, but the state of the unit now remains a moderate priority.
DB
Priority: Low to Moderate
I lumped this position group together because Derwin James, Elijah Molden, RJ Mickens and the probable re-signing of Tony Jefferson make the Safety position on its own, a very low priority. CB seems to be relatively set also as only Benjamin St Juste and Deane Leonard are pending UFA. St Juste played well enough in the scheme to earn another short-term deal and the ST unit was noticeable better when Leonard returned to it, so having him back in that role would be good. The rest of the room consists of Cam Hart, Tarheeb Still, and Donte Jackson. If the same unit is brought back, it would be fine, but I think this group needs a better man coverage corner. We have seen Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still exposed when forced to play a heavy dose of man coverage. Free agent corners tend to be expensive, but some options that might fit what we need without breaking the bank are Martin Emerson, Jason Pinnock and Noah Igbinoghene.
K
Priority: None
Dicker is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
P
Priority: Low
JK Scott is good until you need him. He shanks to many punts in big spots for me, but Harbaugh and Ficken prefer hangtime over distance, so I can’t envision him being cut. If he’s back it’s fine, if he’s cut, whatever.
LS
Priority: Moderate to High
Josh Harris is a pending UFA, but he will be 37 at the start of next season. We saw what a difference having a replacement level player in Rick Lovato looked like, and I think we all agree to never want to see that type of performance again. I expect Harris to be re-signed to another 2-3 year deal so until that is accomplished the priority is moderate, but if he is not, the priority becomes extremely high. I won’t even pretend to know who a good free agent snapper is, no less a draft pick. Let’s just hope Harris is back.
KR/PR
Priority: Low to Moderate
DERIUS Davis has held this role for three seasons, and I am not sure if it is because of the new rules or injury, but Davis does not seem to be the same player he was a few years back. He has really offered nothing offensively except a few gadget and splash plays. I could see a world where he is brought back and another where he is cut. Depending on what the team does at WR, RB or CB, they might be able to fill this position with a dual position player. Like Scott, if he is brought back, it’s fine, if he’s cut, whatever.
Looking at the roster from a pure positional overview gives us a good idea of which positions we should be looking to fill in free agency and the draft, but the two biggest holes to start are OL and Edge. I fully expect one to be filled with a high pick and the other to be fortified through free agency, but don’t expect many high-priced names with so many holes to fill. It has not been Hortiz’ style so far to spend big in free agency, but he might have no choice but to do so in some spots this year to make up for the lack of attention the last two offseasons. How Hortiz’ approaches year three in the big chair with a supposed “Super Bowl window” team will be fascinating.
With the current shape of the roster, how would you build it? How would you choose to spend the assets we have at our disposal?
Most of my resources would go into the offensive and defensive lines.
The first thing I would try to do is see if I could trade QJ for a 4th or 5th round pick. I think this is unlikely to happen, but I would try.
I think what people have to remember about McDaniel is that he is not going to just try and jam square pegs into round holes. He’s not going to think, oh let me go find some guys to replicate what I had with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Obviously that is not possible. McDaniel is way more creative and makes more adjustments than what Chargers fans are used to. He is going to design his offense around what he thinks will work best, but one tendency he has shown everywhere is he tends to concentrate the touches among his best players…and his RBs.
If healthy, Hampton is clearly going to be one of the best weapons on the field and RB/FBs in his offenses always get a lot of touches because he uses them a lot more in the pass game. Last season, McDaniels’ RB/FB had 62% of the touches in his offense. That percentage for the Chargers was only 49% despite running the ball at a higher percentage. I think McDaniels is going to use Hampton like when he had McCaffrey in SF.
He then typically has shown heavy concentration among his top 2 pass catchers with a third guy trailing behind. This was Deebo and Kittle and then 2nd year Aiyuk in SF. Most of his time in MIA it was basically just Hill and Waddle.
Now what does any of this have to do with my initial point of trading QJ? Basically I think the entire offense is going to revolve around Ladd, Hampton and Gadsden and then I guess it could be QJ to a lesser extent, but I’d rather just give those touches to Harris at this point and move on from QJ. Everyone else is just going to be complimentary and injury protection. If healthy, those first 4 guys (plus whoever ends up as RB2/RB3) will soak up like 80% – 85% of the total touches. I’d like to see them add someone with speed like Shaheed, but he’ll probably end up too expensive, so maybe they just pivot to someone like Dotson on the cheap in FA. I don’t see the point in spending big whether via draft or FA.
They need to add another TE and RB, but again, those will likely be cheaper vets, I wouldn’t expect any splash there which you basically stated already.
The offensive line is clearly the most important position group to upgrade. The Chargers are actually in a fortunate position having 3 starting spots up for grabs as they make this OC change. So much involved with offensive line schemes and often times when an OC takes over he is stuck with players that don’t fit. All season long everyone is going to be clamoring for Linderbaum and rightfully so. BUT, I am skeptical that he will even leave BAL, and meanwhile McDaniel and his OL coach just turned Aaron Brewer into a 2nd team All Pro, so maybe we don’t need to spend so massively, and just need to bring in the right guys. I would NOT sign Zion Johnson, and I would obviously cut Becton and Bozeman. I’d then spend probably 2 of my first 4 picks on OL along with a solid FA signing whether Linderbaum or someone else a bit cheaper. THEN, they will still have more work to do to sign another vet starter/backup and hopefully they can bring back Salyer as the swing (assuming McDaniel likes him). That is A LOT of work to do on the OL, but again, it is fortuitous that they have this opportunity to rebuild almost the entire line with players McDaniels actually thinks he can work with as opposed to being stuck with.
Now onto defense… again, most of the rest of my resources (whether draft capital or $$) that didn’t go to the OL are going into the DL. This includes Edge. Obviously they should extend Tuli, and they need to resign at least one of Oweh or Mack if not both. If they can’t get both, they need to sign someone else, because can’t just rely on the draft. There are a solid number of good DTs in this draft and I would love to get one of them in the first two rounds. I think the one thing this defense is missing is a really good interior player. I do expect Caldwell and Eboigbe to take steps up, but having true blue chip talent in the interior of the defense for the first time in a very long time would make me very happy. It would also make the edge rushers happy!
I don’t think they need to do a lot in the secondary or at LBer. Just keep doing what they’ve been doing the last couple of years and they’ll make guys work. LBer is the easiest position in the NFL to grow someone right now. Get a rangy guy with potential in the 6th round and sign a thumper and they’re set.
Blue Beers, thanks for the response. I think we pretty much see the roster the same way, but as far as IDL, I don’t think we necessarily need to add a pure stud, but we do need to add in a body or two fir depth at the very least. With so few draft picks, unless we trade to acquire more picks, I think the premium picks should be used on Edge and OL and probably multiple picks on the OL. Hortiz has a ton of work to do on the OL to even be considered “serviceable”.