We are finally nearing a ceremonial holiday for football fans… the New League Year is upon us.
Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz have tough decisions to make as the week progresses. The Chargers cap situation is wildly overblown by the media at this point – they are one cut away from reaching cap compliance, which would buy the time they need to explore trades for Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack… and apparently Keenan Allen if the offering is high enough. Mike Williams would free up $20 million immediately if released, and it wouldn’t close the door on negotiations down the road.
Joey Bosa – He’s elite when healthy, but has had back-to-back seasons destroyed by injury, and was very vocal of how many injuries he sustained and suffered in the past. If cut or traded, he would save the Chargers $47,360,000 over two years. Is it worth rolling the dice that he suddenly has a healthy season? What would teams realistically sign him for if he were cut?
Khalil Mack – Mack had an amazing season in 2023, and showed no signs of regression or slowing down despite being 32. He is set to make $23,250,000 this season, a very palatable figure given his impressive performance last year as a complete EDGE, excelling against the run and pass. His reasonable salary only offers more incentive for teams ready to “win now” when negotiating, and he likely carries the highest trade value out of these four players. He has also expressed that winning is his #1 priority at this stage of his career, so it stands to reason an interested team could work a reasonable extension if they were legit contenders.
Mike Williams – Mike was really paid off a projection of what he could be, and not necessarily what he has been for the Chargers. It helped that he had a career year in his contract season, comfortably surpassing the 1000 yards for only the second time in his seven year career (extrapolating out to the years since his signing as well). After signing a deal paying him $20 million per year, Mike has managed 82 catches, 1,144 yards, and five touchdowns in two seasons. Sadly, those stats in one year might not get you a $20 million per-year deal. He has the talent, but he has struggled being available. I have a very hard time seeing a team trade for him and take on his $20 million salary that the Chargers would part with, but perhaps a renegotiation with the Bolts down the road is in line.
Keenan Allen – Allen is tricky, because there’s no question he’s an elite receiver. He’s ticking up there in age, but has shown no signs of slowing down. If Allen wanted to chase a ring, Hortiz should work with him to make a deal happen. However, Allen has expressed he expects to stay and seems content being a career Charger.
Hopefully this means an extension is in the works, because letting Allen walk for even third round compensation would be shorting what he’s worth on the trade block. His $23,100,000 savings to the Chargers would be palatable for a team willing to leverage themselves for a win-now scenario, so it’ll be very interesting to see if Joe gets some aggressive offers on Allen and manages to resist them.
