Nothing about the Chargers’ 0-5 start has been simple, but the clearest explanation may be the most embarrassing one: this is an ownership problem.
Jim Harbaugh standing there speechless after the latest loss said plenty on its own. The easy targets are all sitting right there.
Harbaugh has made some rough in-game choices. Justin Herbert has coughed up the kind of turnovers the article describes as sandwich-themed.
Mike McDaniel is trying to build an offense with players who wouldn’t crack a 53 for other teams. Joe Hortiz, meanwhile, looks boxed in by the people above him.
That’s where this really begins.
The Chargers bought the expensive car, but they have not been willing to put the nice fuel in it. They paid for Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel. Yet the organization is also 31st in cash spending, and its cap-to-cash ratio of 0.9711 is last in the league - the only team below 1.
That’s the backdrop for all the roster weirdness. A five-man competition at left guard all summer in front of the franchise quarterback?
Cheap. Signing the bargain free-agent center before the market opens just to land a deal?
Cheap. Sticking with Quentin Johnston because he’s a deal?
Cheap. Trading for Odafe Oweh, getting production out of him, and then not paying to keep him?
Cheap. Selling the comp pick process as a philosophy of strong depth when it’s really about budget?
Cheap.
And while all of that plays out, the Chargers are still sitting on $26 million in cap space.
There’s even a strange twist to it all. The club drafted a first-round running back instead of spending premium draft capital on a premium position, even though running back is the one spot where being cheap can actually work well. Kimani Vidal says hello.
Chargers fans probably shouldn’t be shocked. This is what they’ve come to expect from this ownership group. But it’s the kind of approach that could cost them Harbaugh, and maybe Herbert too, especially if Herbert’s current funk is one that only a change of scenery can fix.
And if the Chargers do eventually move on from Herbert, there isn’t much in the track record to suggest ownership would turn the returned assets into anything other than another careful exercise in balancing the checkbook first.
In Other News...
Harbaughs Latest Admission Puts Chargers 0-5 Start Under A Microscope
Jim Harbaugh spent the aftermath of the Chargers latest loss doing what the locker room needed most from its head coach: owning the moment. After the defeat to the Broncos, Harbaugh accepted full responsibility for a fourth-quarter decision that helped swing the game, a candid admission that only sharpened the pressure around a team that is now 0-5 and trying to stop a season from slipping away before October is even over.
The Chargers have had enough trouble on offense to make every choice feel magnified, and Justin Herbert has been dealing with those struggles as the losses pile up. Next comes Kansas City, which only raises the stakes for a group that has not found an early-season answer and now has its coach publicly placing the burden on himself rather than letting the conversation drift elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Loss Fuels Bigger Questions About How Competitive This Team Is
The Chargers 23-17 loss to the Broncos left more than a bad taste in the mouth, it reopened the familiar debate about how far this roster can really go when the margin tightens. Nick Canepas postgame grades painted a blunt picture of the performance, with the quarterback and receiver groups taking the hardest hits while special teams and coaching decisions came under the microscope as well.
Injuries only made the picture murkier, especially up front, where the offensive line was already working around absences. With a trip to Kansas City next on the schedule, the questions around protection, execution and overall competitiveness are only getting louder, and this one feels less like a one-off stumble than another test of where the Chargers actually stand. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Suddenly Face A Trade Deadline Path Fans Wont Like
A rough start has already pushed a few NFL teams into uncomfortable conversations about the trade deadline, and Adam Schefter put the Chargers right in the middle of that group. Along with the Dolphins, Titans and Cardinals, Los Angeles was identified as a team that could wind up considering moves because of how poorly the season has begun, a reminder that October can turn quickly from evaluation mode to sell mode.
For the Chargers, the concern is not just the record but the layering of problems around it. An 0-5 start usually invites scrutiny on its own, but Los Angeles is also working through a growing injury list, which makes the roster picture harder to sort and the deadline outlook even murkier. In a week when other clubs are already reshaping their futures, the Chargers may have to decide whether they are trying to patch a season or prepare for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]