Bolts From The Blue
The Chargers’ pass rush has been led by a pair of aging and/or oft-injured players over the past three seasons. Now entering the 2025 offseason, Khalil Mack will be 34 during the next regular season and Joey Bosa just had his worst season where he stayed relatively healthy (five sacks in 14 games). I don’t think there’s any chance both return to the Chargers for another season, and it’s not entirely set in stone that Mack will go right back to LA if he allows himself to hit the free agent market.
The Chargers will most likely need to add to the edge rusher room this offseason and they could actually do much more than that with the recent news regarding Browns All-Pro Myles Garrett and his recent request for a trade. Garrett wants to land with a Super Bowl contender more than anything and it just so happens the Jim Harbaugh effect has those around the league believing their on the cusp of just such a thing.
In fact, in a new article from NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, the Chargers are one of nine “best fits” for Garrett should he be granted a trade.
“The Chargers actually ranked eighth in sack percentage this past season, but there are some concerns,” says Edholm. “Joey Bosa had an injury-plagued season and could be a cut candidate this offseason. Khalil Mack still played at a high level but is headed for free agency and will turn 34 this month.”
“Trading for Garrett would allow the Bolts to move on from both players if desired, giving coordinator Jesse Minter another weapon up front and making the defense younger in that area, too. Even if we assume Mack isn’t back in this scenario, an edge combo of Garrett and Tuli Tuipulotu would work pretty well in the rough-and-tumble AFC West.”
If worst comes to worst and the Chargers both move on from Bosa and Mack leaves in free agency, the the Chargers will have only Tuli Tuipulotu and 31-year old Bud Dupree as their top two pass rushers. If the Chargers don’t land Garrett in some blockbuster trade, they’ll be stuck trying to land one of the best edge rushers in a middling free agent group.
Dante Fowler Jr., coming off his age-30 season, is one of the only free agent rushers to have notched double-digit sacks in 2024. He had 10.5 for the Commanders this year, only the second time he’s reach 10 or more in his career. Josh Sweat, currently playing for the Eagles, had eight takedowns this season which was good for second most in his seven-year career.
So in theory the Chargers could piece together a decent pass rush without both Mack and Bosa through both free agency and the draft, but the offseason picture could become a whole lot clearer if they were to land the generational Garrett.
Is it worth getting our hopes up for something like this? In previous years, I’d say not in the...
