The Chargers’ season has gone off the rails fast, but Justin Herbert isn’t being shown the door.
Los Angeles is 0-5 to open the 2026 NFL season, a stunning start after last year’s campaign. Herbert’s play has been a huge part of that mess, with the star quarterback looking nothing like the steady regular-season force Chargers fans expected. Instead of carrying the team, he’s been at the center of a collapse that has the Chargers staring at a playoff-less year.
Even with all that noise, the organization is not entertaining a Herbert trade. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said he spoke with a “high-level league executive” who called it “really interesting” if the Chargers were to move him, but when Schefter brought that idea to someone inside the team, he got shut down immediately.
He reported, “The person basically cut me off mid-sentence, stopped me in my tracks, and said, ‘Let me be very clear about this. We have never even discussed that idea.
The sentence should we trade Justin Herbert has never once been uttered in our organization, nor will it be.”
For now, the Chargers are moving in a different direction at the quarterback position without touching Herbert. According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, Los Angeles is signing veteran Jake Browning ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s still unclear whether Browning will slide in as the clear No. 2 on the depth chart.
Browning brings experience, if not a huge résumé. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback has thrown for 2,707 career yards with 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He spent his first three seasons in Minnesota, the next four with the Bengals, and most recently was with the Bucs during the 2026 offseason.
There was at least some thought that Herbert’s struggles could spark an even bigger shakeup, especially with the kind of draft capital a trade could bring back. But that possibility doesn’t appear to be on the table.
The Chargers are adding a quarterback. They’re not moving their franchise guy.
In Other News...
Bengals Linebacker Move Puts Al Golden's Influence In Focus
The Bengals made a notable linebacker move this week, adding Jack Kiser after his brief run with Jacksonville and turning to a player who already has familiarity with defensive coordinator Al Golden from their Notre Dame days. Kiser arrives with some college credibility and a built-in connection to Cincinnatis staff, the kind of detail that can matter when a team is sorting through midseason depth and trying to find players who can absorb the system quickly.
His arrival also comes at a time when the Bengals needed reinforcement at the position, with Swayze Bozeman sidelined after the forearm injury he suffered in Week 5. Cincinnati is clearly looking for a workable answer at linebacker, and Kisers background gives this claim a little more intrigue than a typical waiver move, even if the real test now is how fast he can translate that familiarity into a role on Sundays. [Read more 🡒]
Zac Taylors Dexter Lawrence Remark Says Everything About His Bengals Impact
Zac Taylors praise for Dexter Lawrence II after the Week 5 win over Miami fit the way the Bengals have talked about the defensive tackle since bringing him into the building. Lawrence has given Cincinnati the kind of interior presence that changes how an offense has to play, and his early production has backed up the hype with 14 tackles and three sacks so far this season.
The move to acquire him from the Giants was already viewed around the league as a sharp offseason pickup, and the Bengals made it clear they wanted more than a short-term boost by working out a one-year extension. For a defense that needed more disruptive power up front, Lawrence has quickly become one of the most important additions on the roster, even if there is still a bigger long-term cost attached to the trade that Cincinnati will have to live with. [Read more 🡒]
Amarius Mims Has One Strange Problem Bengals Can't Ignore
Amarius Mims has given the Bengals exactly what they want on the field this fall, holding up well against some of the leagues top defenders at right tackle and helping Cincinnati get to a 3-2 start. Off the field, though, the rookie has run into a problem that has become hard to ignore: his cleats keep failing him in the middle of games, turning a promising early season into something of an equipment headache.
The issue has already surfaced more than once, and Mims has gone public in asking shoe manufacturers for a better answer. It is the kind of oddly specific snag that can still matter for a team trying to build momentum, especially with roster churn around him after the Bengals added Jack Kiser and put Swayze Bozeman on injured reserve. For now, the blocking is strong, but the footwear situation remains a loose end Cincinnati would rather not keep revisiting. [Read more 🡒]