Now that the Chargers season has ended with a playoff loss, attention must be turned to fix the interior offensive line, and receiver and pass rush depth.
Chargers players quietly packed up their lockers Sunday, collecting a season’s worth of Jim Harbaugh’s blue collar-themed gifts into plastic bags. They left signed jerseys in their teammates’ lockers like classmates inscribing yearbooks after the school year, except the end came much more suddenly than any planned graduation.
After returning to the playoffs in Harbaugh’s first season, the Chargers began an offseason with optimism for the future, but grappled with the disappointment of an early exit in the AFC wild-card round.
“Obviously not the way you would have liked it to end,” right tackle Joe Alt said. “It’s over, but there’s a new beginning now.”
Three takeaways from the Chargers season:
Help for Justin Herbert
Justin Herbert’s struggles will be the final, sour impression of the season after he had four passes intercepted against the Texans. Until he gets over the hump, Herbert’s lack of postseason success is the ultimate hurdle before he cracks the top echelon of quarterbacks.
Still, the Chargers need to keep surrounding their star quarterback with talent.
A record-setting rookie season put Ladd McConkey ahead of former first-round pick Quentin Johnston as the Chargers’ top receiver. McConkey, a second-round draft pick in 2024, added to his franchise rookie season records for receiving yards (1,149) and catches (82) by finishing the year with 197 yards receiving against the Texans, an NFL rookie playoff record.
Johnston took a step forward during his second professional year with 711 yards receiving and eight touchdowns during the regular season, but had a team-high 9.8% drop rate among receivers, according to Pro Football Focus, which exacerbated concerns from his rookie season.
Read more: Khalil Mack unsure if he will be back with the Chargers next season
Johnston had starring moments, including a 13-catch, 186-yard outburst against the Raiders in Week 18, but also was held without a catch against the Ravens and the Texans, despite five targets in each of the critical games. He had four combined drops in the games.
“The reality of it is you can’t go back and redo it,” Johnston said. “So sometimes you got to turn on your highlight tape and turn on some good plays you did, kind of just remind yourself, like, ‘yeah, I’m capable of doing what I said I can do.’ Obviously I wasn’t brought here for no reason.”
Major free agent signing D.J. Chark Jr. never made an impact after a preseason hip injury cost him eight games. He settled for four catches for 31 yards and one touchdown during the regular season with one more catch for 15 yards against the Texans. He came aboard as the Chargers’ only receiver with a 1,000-yard season to his credit and now hits free agency again after the quietest season of his career.
The Chargers have more than $73 million in cap space this offseason, according to overthecap.com. The total ranks fourth-most in the NFL.
Offensive line will need work
The Chargers rediscovered their Pro Bowl left tackle and proved they have a future star at right tackle, but face uncertainty with their interior line.
Even when at full strength, the Chargers still were unsettled outside of left tackle Rashawn Slater and Alt, the team’s star rookie right tackle. They rotated Jamaree Salyer at right guard during many short-yardage or goal-line situations in place of Trey Pipkins III.
Pipkins was in his first year at right guard after he shifted from right tackle to accommodate the addition of Alt. The six-year veteran battled ankle and hip injuries during the regular season and when an oblique injury held him out in the wild-card round, Salyer especially struggled in his place.
The 2022 sixth-round pick out of Georgia was the Chargers’ worst-rated pass blocker in the game, according to Pro Football Focus. The Chargers gave up four sacks and nine quarterback hits to the Texans.
Read more: Houston is not the ‘Big Easy’ as Texans intercept Chargers’ playoff dreams
Zion Johnson, a former first-round draft pick, and center Bradley Bozeman were the only offensive linemen to start every game this season. Johnson gave up a career-high seven sacks during the season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Slater and Alt both lauded Bozeman as the offensive line’s “rock.” Bozeman was the only starting offensive lineman with previous experience working with offensive coordinator Greg Roman, but will face another free agency decision this offseason.
“This organization is going to be in a great spot next year, whether I’m here or not,” Bozeman said, his voice thick with emotion Saturday night in Houston. “But I want to be a part of that.”
Uncertain future for edge rushers
The Chargers’ edge rusher room was considered the defense’s most impressive position group heading into the season, but could look completely different in 2025. Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, who have been the anchors of the Chargers’ pass rush since Mack was acquired via trade in 2022, could both move on this offseason.
Mack, 33, said he is contemplating retirement while facing his first offseason as an unrestricted free agent. Bosa did not speak with reporters Sunday, but with a cap hit of more than $36 million, according to overthecap.com, the franchise’s longest tenured player could become a salary-cap casualty.
Read more: How the NFL and Rams worked together to relocate playoff game amid an L.A. tragedy
The possibility of losing both star edge rushers was hard to think about for second-year outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu, who said he was “blessed to have them for two years.”
The former USC star increased his sack total from 4½ as a rookie to 8½ in his second season, earning seven sacks during a four-game stretch in the middle of the season. He stepped into the starting lineup when Bosa was sidelined with a hip injury, and if the veterans don’t return next season Tuipulotu said he would be ready to take the baton.
“Whatever needs to be done, I’ll do it. I think I’ve shown that,” Tuipulotu said. “Whatever the coach needs me to do, I’ll do it.”
Etc.
The Chargers signed 10 players to reserve/futures contracts Monday, keeping the players who ended the 2024 season on the practice squad while planning for next season’s organized team activities and training camp. The Chargers signed: guard Karsen Barnhart; tight end McCallen Castles; receivers Dez Fitzpatrick and Jaylen Jonson; defensive lineman Christopher Hinton; linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste; outside linebackers Tre’Mon Morris-Brash and Caleb Murphy; running back Jaret Patterson and safety Kendall Williamson.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
