The Chargers have a roster full of names that would make other teams stop and pick up the phone, and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell used his annual trade-tier exercise to sort out just how expensive those names would be.
Barnwell framed the whole thing as a thought experiment, but the timing makes it feel a little more real than usual. Big NFL trades involving Micah Parsons and Sauce Gardner have pushed these kinds of discussions from idle offseason chatter into something closer to a live market. With the Chargers set to open camp on July 28 and some hope still hanging around for extension news on edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu, the conversation around the team’s top talent is already heating up.
At the top of Barnwell’s Chargers list is Justin Herbert, who lands just below the league’s elite quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, but ahead of Joe Burrow, his fellow 2020 draftee. Barnwell’s valuation is massive: four first-round picks, plus additional compensation.
"Herbert hasn't yet put together the MVP season that so many people think he's capable of producing," Barnwell said, " just about every coach in football would be desperate to have a quarterback with Herbert's arm strength and throwing talent."
After Herbert, Barnwell slots Joe Alt into the next tier with a trade value of two first-round picks. Alt is currently projected to play right tackle, and that matters because the position doesn’t carry the same cachet as left tackle. But his experience at left tackle at Notre Dame, along with the times he filled in on the left side, gives him the kind of versatility that keeps his value high.
Rashawn Slater is still viewed as one of the league’s top offensive linemen when healthy, but the injuries have started to pile up. Even so, Barnwell still pegs him as worth a first-round pick.
Tuipulotu also checks in with first-round value, and Barnwell gives the same grade to 2026 first-round pick Akheem Mesidor. Tuipulotu won’t turn 24 until September, and coming off a 13-sack season, it’s easy to see why his value would be so strong even with the expected pay bump looming.
Two more Chargers names came just short of that first-round tier: Omarion Hampton and Ladd McConkey. Hampton has breakout potential this season in Mike McDaniel’s offense, though injuries during his rookie year limited what he could do and kept him from fully showing it. McConkey, meanwhile, went through a sophomore slump as the Chargers’ offensive line broke down around Herbert in 2025, but he could be in line for a bounce back with more yards-after-catch chances in McDaniel’s offense.
Derwin James also sits just outside that first-round tier. He was recently voted the second-best safety in the NFL, finishing behind a younger version of himself in the Ravens’ Kyle Hamilton.
Barnwell sees him as a defensive difference-maker and multiplier, though he does not spell out why James’ trade value falls short of first-round status. Age likely plays a part, with the safety entering his age-30 season.
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