{"id":112179,"date":"2025-06-07T21:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T21:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/112179\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T21:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T21:57:14","slug":"fresh-out-of-chances-chargers-first-round-pick-named-a-trade-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/112179\/","title":{"rendered":"“Fresh Out of Chances” – Chargers First-Round Pick Named A Trade Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Chargers bolstered their offensive line in the offseason, and the new additions could lead to a Zion Johnson trade. A first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft<\/a>, the Boston College product has never quite played up to that first-round draft capital but has remained a solid starter. Last year, the third-year veteran finished the season with a 64.4 PFF grade, the 38th-best mark out of 77 eligible players.<\/p>\n

However, he may not return for Year 4. Los Angeles declined his fifth-year option, which means he will be a free agent following the 2025 season. With free agent signee Mekhi Becton<\/a> taking the right guard job and Bradley Bozeman potentially moving to guard following the addition of center Andre James, the Chargers could look to trade Zion Johnson and maximize his return. At least, that\u2019s what\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2018s Gary Davenport<\/a> believes, as the NFL analyst recently wrote that Johnson could be \u201cfresh out of chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chargers also brought in veteran Andrew James, who has 60 career starts under his belt,\u201d Davenport writes. \u201cIf James wins the job, the best move for the Chargers might be shopping Johnson to teams with a need on the offensive line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChargersSep 22, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Chargers center Bradley Bozeman (75) and guard Zion Johnson (77) and offensive tackle Rashawn Slater (70) take the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
\nReport: Chargers Could Trade Zion Johnson
\nPossible Fits
\nNew Orleans Saints<\/p>\n

The New Orleans Saints face the unenviable job of trying to support two young, untested quarterbacks in Spencer Rattler and second-round pick Tyler Shough<\/a>. While it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess who will start next year, whoever wins the job will struggle behind this makeshift offensive line. Head coach Kellen Moore is trying to turn first-round bust Trevor Penning into a guard, but if that fails, the team should trade for Zion Johnson. New Orleans won\u2019t make the playoffs next year, but protecting a young quarterback is easily worth a late-round pick swap.<\/p>\n

Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n

The Seattle Seahawks will live and die with Sam Darnold<\/a> in 2025, which means they must improve the offensive line. Darnold had a great 2024 in a near-perfect environment with the Minnesota Vikings, but his failed tenures with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers show he cannot thrive in a flawed atmosphere. Seattle has one of the league\u2019s worst offensive line, and a trade for someone like Zion Johnson could provide some much-needed stability that could give Darnold the time to connect with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp.<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n

The Baltimore Ravens have two great tackles and one of the league\u2019s top centers<\/a>. An elite quarterback like Lamar Jackson can easily thrive with this blocking, but the old saying goes that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Ravens need more stability at guard, and Johnson could provide yet another player capable of keeping Jackson upright and clearing lanes for Derrick Henry. The only question is whether or not the Chargers would ever trade Zion Johnson to a fellow AFC contender like the Ravens.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Robert Hanashiro \u2013 Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Chargers bolstered their offensive line in the offseason, and the new additions could lead to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,5403,7,1014,262,2444,2443,4388,6,10420,6211,8402],"class_list":{"0":"post-112179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-chargers-featured","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-losangeleschargers","15":"tag-mekhi-becton","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-ravens-featured","18":"tag-saints-featured","19":"tag-zion-johnson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114644323211536366","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}