The Chargers are off to a nightmare start, and if the losses keep piling up, the roster could start getting picked apart before the Nov. 10 trade deadline.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler dug into potential deadline movement around the league, and Los Angeles naturally came up as one of the teams to watch. The idea of a Chargers fire sale is now out there, even if the franchise may not be willing to shop its top names.
“Someone the other day mentioned the possibility of a Chargers fire sale, and my response was, ‘Who wants them?' But you're right. Teams will have an eye on potentially helpful players from a Chargers roster that obviously hasn't come together,” Graziano wrote.
Khalil Mack is the obvious headline. If a contender is hunting for pass-rush help, he could become one of the most valuable players available. But Graziano also flagged Quentin Johnston as another name worth monitoring.
“Veteran edge rusher Khalil Mack is the big name, but Johnston is certainly intriguing,” Graziano added. “A potential hang-up is that fully guaranteed $18 million fifth-year option for 2027, but Johnston just turned 25, has obvious talent and could benefit from a change of scenery.”
Johnston’s season has gone nowhere so far, which makes the conversation more interesting. He was building something before this mess of a 2026 campaign, posting back-to-back seasons with 50-plus catches, 700-plus receiving yards and eight touchdowns. This year, though, he’s been stuck in the mud with the rest of the offense, managing just seven catches for 108 yards on 19 targets through five games.
And with the Chargers sitting at 0-5, the bigger question is no longer whether rumors will surface - it’s how many players could actually be moved if the losing continues. Their schedule isn’t doing them any favors, either.
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Chargers May Be Near A Deadline Decision Fans Dread
The Chargers 0-5 start has already pushed the season into uncomfortable territory, and the next layer of uncertainty is beginning to settle around the roster. One of the names drawing attention is veteran defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, whose situation fits the kind of deadline conversation that starts early when a teams record slips out of reach and the front office has to think beyond the current season.
Tomlinsons value, though, is tied closely to his health and whether contending teams see enough in him to make a move later on. Los Angeles could have other defensive pieces in that same mix as the season unfolds, but the bigger picture is clear enough: the Chargers may be staring at difficult choices long before the trade deadline arrives, even if the most important part of the roster remains off-limits. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Face A Brutal Reality Before Chiefs Rivalry Gets Worse
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For Los Angeles to have any kind of shot, the details have to clean themselves up fast. The offense cannot give possessions away, Justin Herbert needs cleaner protection than he has gotten, and the defense has to make life difficult enough to slow down Kenneth Walker III and force Kansas City into a longer game than it wants. If the Chargers are going to change the tone of this season, it starts with those basics holding up under pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herbert Is Suddenly In A Chargers Debate Fans Hate
Justin Herberts name has suddenly been pulled into a quarterback conversation no Chargers fan wants to hear, with his current struggles in Los Angeles colliding with a Minnesota team that keeps winning but still seems to be searching for a long-term answer under center. The noise picked up after NFL chatter around the Vikings and their quarterback situation started getting linked to Herbert, turning a once-unthinkable topic into the kind of debate that spreads quickly across the league.
It is still the sort of speculation that lives more in talk-show territory than in actual transaction talk, but it says a lot about how unsettled both situations feel right now. Any move would face a major hurdle beyond the football fit, and for Chargers supporters, the whole exercise is less about realism than the uncomfortable reminder that even a franchise quarterback can wind up at the center of rumor season when things around him start to wobble. [Read more 🡒]