It’s a development that will break the hearts of thousands of San Diegans

Los Angeles Chargers owner Dean Spanos isn’t getting much bang for his buck from his top football leaders.

It’s not that Spanos cheaped out.

Coach Jim Harbaugh, offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and quarterback Justin Herbert each are paid very well by NFL standards but aren’t meeting that standard.

Blame for L.A.’s 0-3 start begins with Harbaugh.

Frequent mistakes on offense, pass defense and special teams have led to a pair of losses as a heavy favorite and another L.A. bummer Sunday — a 24-16 defeat in Buffalo despite temperate weather and the favored Bills committing five turnovers and 10 penalties.

In January 2024, Spanos and son John Spanos chose to pay up for Harbaugh, a proven winner. The five-year contract was worth $75 million. Harbaugh’s $16 million salary this year sits fourth among NFL coaches, per Sportico.com.

Compared to Harbaugh’s current team, the Spanoses didn’t get any worse from their cheap hires who preceded Harbaugh — Mike McCoy followed by Anthony Lynn and Brandon Staley — at the outset of their third seasons.

McDaniel is paid big money, too, by NFL standards.

His compensation isn’t publicly known, but it’s way up the scale.

The Miami Dolphins are still paying off his head coaching contract and L.A. must be paying him, too, what with McDaniel last offseason commanding interviews from two other playoff contenders and drawing interest from the Eagles.

McDaniel’s offense — too cute, too busy — stumbled to the franchise’s worst two-game start to a season since head coach Norv Turner’s first San Diego offense sputtered to open the 2007 season.

Sunday, coming off a six-fumble game that also saw star right tackle Joe Alt commit four penalties and allow a safety, McDaniel’s unit was better prepared.

There were no turnovers or penalties in the first half, a 10-10 draw.

Rookie tackle Travis Burke, appearing on offense for the first time this season, succeeded on multiple plays as a sixth lineman to assist with pass blocking and a ground game that went for 74 yards.

But in the second half, L.A.’s offense downshifted into Chargering mode.

There were seven penalties, two of them false starts inside Buffalo’s 10.

There was Quentin Johnston, who can never be fully trusted, dropping a perfect third-and-7 pass, echoing the first-half drop by Oronde Gadsden.

Calling into question the coaches, the offense embarrassed itself on a crucial fourth-and-7.

While a timeout was being contemplated, the play clock got away from the coaches and QB. The play came in late, leaving just nine seconds left when the huddle broke. Near zero, when a harried tight end shifted, someone should’ve called timeout.

Instead, the slapdash sequence ended in an incompletion.

Herbert stands as L.A.’s third highly paid underachiever. His salary cap charge of $46.3 million is second among all quarterbacks, surpassed only by the Rams’ Matthew Stafford.

Sunday, Herbert made it three games in a row with a bad interception in the fourth quarter.

This one was extra bad.

With L.A. ahead 13-10 early in the quarter, Herbert dropped back from Buffalo’s 23 on third-and-5 and threw a post-route pass.

A Bills safety picked it off at the 1 by cutting in front of recent L.A. addition Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a 31-year-old receiver on his ninth NFL team.

Tom Brady blamed Herbert entirely for the pickoff, saying the QB should’ve seen the safety but didn’t.

“Poor awareness, poor decision,” said the former QB/Fox analyst. “Throws him a meatball.”

Buffalo (3-0) drove for a TD, stopped L.A. on the dysfunctional fourth-and-7 play following Johnston’s drop and kicked a field goal, all but closing out a ragged game.

L.A. (0-3) and its rookie coordinator Chris O’Leary did get big plays from several young defenders, headed by rookie safety Genesis Smith (two sparkling interceptions) and rookie end Akheem Mesidor (a fast sack against star tackle Dion Dawkins).

But the game exposed L.A.’s lack of deptg.

Two injury replacements made large errors — a tight end’s false start at Buffalo’s 1, a cornerback’s poor pass coverage that led to a tying TD and his hold on second-and-26 that led to a go-ahead TD.

In its next game, L.A. will have a chance to upend a much-injured Seattle team. Sunday, the Seahawks lost 33-31 to Washington.

Regardless, Spanos’ big boys need to pick up their games.

Harbaugh has lost to three rookie head coaches.

The McDaniel-Herbert offense has lagged far behind the McDaniel-Tua Tagovailoa offense’s first three games, back in 2022.

Herbert isn’t to blame for inferior blocking and receiving.

But the fourth-quarter interceptions like the one Sunday, which came soon after a penalty spared him an end zone pickoff, could end up looming large if L.A. misses the playoffs. And when you’re getting paid like a top QB, you’re expected to turn winnable games into victories.