The Los Angeles Chargers weren’t as active at the deadline as many had hoped—but ‘active’ falls under two different definitions when it comes to sellers in the NFL.
There are the teams that are tearing things down completely, like the Indianapolis Colts, shipping off most of their star players in order to amass some high-profile draft capital. There other teams that are simply looking to ship off expiring depth pieces, capitalizing in a reserved way upon a season that’s already been lost.
The Chargers fell between the two camps—they dealt Daiyan Henley to the Denver Broncos, but they failed to make another move involving any of their other expiring contracts before the deadline passed. That doesn’t mean that teams weren’t calling in, though.
Per Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, at least one team made overtures toward acquiring Ladd McConkey (Fowler’s source believed it to be the Los Angeles Rams). The Chargers, like with the Vikings’ call about Justin Herbert, ultimately shut down those conversations.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Chargers weren’t willing to move McConkey, who essentially functions as their current WR1 when he’s healthy. But taking the Henley trade into account, it seems pretty clear that Los Angeles believes in the core of this roster moving forward—and it also seems clear that Henley wasn’t necessarily a part of that.
The Chargers are working on a path to 2027 and beyond—and Daiyan Henley likely wasn’t in that picture
Now, there’s certainly room to argue that this roster needs to be rebuilt from the ground up this offseason. None of the talent around Justin Herbert has been sufficient to bring this team anywhere truly close to a playoff victory, let alone a Super Bowl, and we’re seeing the worst-case scenario of those deficits play out this season.
There’s not enough pure separation talent in the receiving room to make Mike McDaniel’s scheme work. There’s not enough consistency on the interior of the offensive line to allow the run game any leeway. And there’s not enough a cohesive identity across the offense to truly think Los Angeles is in for some kind of miraculous turnaround on that side of the ball.
In that light, perhaps hearing offers on pieces like McConkey may have been the right move. Even if McConkey remains on the roster next season, Los Angeles still needs to add a true alpha receiver to make the hierarchy of this room make sense. The Rams’ interest is logical as well, considering the injuries that both Davante Adams and Puka Nacua have sustained.
Prior to the trade deadline, though, Hortiz made clear he wasn’t interested in moving on from any of the cornerstones of the Los Angeles roster. Based on how things unfolded, it’s safe to say that those players are likely as follows—Herbert, McConkey, Derwin James Jr. (by virtue of his contract), Omarion Hampton, Rashawn Slater, Joe Alt, and Tuli Tuipulotu. If Khalil Mack sticks around beyond this year, you can easily toss him in there as well.
Henley, for the Chargers, likely fell into a tier below that—putting him closer to productive players, like Tarheeb Still and Elijah Molden, that Los Angeles would like to keep if things play out right. But Henley’s production over the past season and a half didn’t necessarily justify paying him a hefty extension this offseason, especially considering the questions still surrounding Tuipulotu’s next deal.
While moving on from Henley obviously muddies the picture a bit in terms of the Chargers’ long-term plans, this prioritization of assets also serves to clear things up. Los Angeles, in all likelihood, wasn’t interested in dealing any of the cornerstones of this roster as they attempt to regain a competitive stature in 2027. Barring a complete cleaning of house this offseason, this will be essentially the same team heading into next season.
It feels like Henley simply wasn’t viewed as a key piece of that, and the return Los Angeles got from the Broncos was simply too strong to pass up in light of that fact.
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