Until the new league year starts and we begin to find out where all the most notable free agents will land for the 2026 season, we\u2019re going to be hearing a ton about predictions and best fits. New from ESPN, three current Chargers have landed on ESPN\u2019s list of the top 50 2026 free agents.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go ahead and check out where they ended up ranked along with the team analyst Matt Bowen believes is their best fit.<\/p>\n
Best fit via Bowen: Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n
\u201cOweh\u2019s production in L.A. after being traded from the Ravens should keep him with the Chargers under new coordinator Chris O\u2019Leary. He had 7.5 sacks with the Chargers in the regular season and added three in their wild-card loss to the Patriots. He\u2019s an explosive rusher whom O\u2019Leary can scheme for one-on-one matchups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oweh was astounding for the Chargers down the final stretch of the season after getting his legs under him following the trade. Notching 7.5 sacks in 12 games is solid and the three he had in the team\u2019s biggest game of the season shows he has the \u201cshow up\u201d factor when it matters.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s going to be some tug-of-war in regards to whether he\u2019ll stay in LA or possibly head back to Baltimore to play under Jesse Minter, but I believe this is a must-sign for the Chargers, regardless of<\/p>\n
Best fit via Bowen: Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bucs had 37 sacks last season, which ranked 18th in the league. They need to address the edges of their pass rush, and while Mack might be seen a situational player for Todd Bowles\u2019 defense, the defender can still create disruption and get home to the quarterback. An elbow injury forced Mack to sit out five of the Chargers\u2019 games early in the 2025 season, yet he finished with 5.5 sacks and 28 pressures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mack missed a good chunk of the season but still turned in an impactful performance with his all-around game. He is still elite at setting the edge and going through the faces of opposing offensive tackles, even if the numbers say he\u2019s missed a step or two.<\/p>\n
Mack\u2019s number one goal is still to win a playoff game and then a Super Bowl. The Chargers have seemed like a place where he could at least attain that first goal, but the postseason win still eludes him despite playing for three different franchises in his career.<\/p>\n
I would not blame Mack for feeling like he needs a final change of scenery to invite a playoff win, but that obviously depends on there being a contender who wants to add him at his preferred price tag. The Chargers have the money to sign him. So do the Bucs, whom Bowen believes would be a good fit for the veteran.<\/p>\n
Best fit via Bowen: Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Raiders can upgrade their offensive line with Johnson. He\u2019d play the left guard spot in Klint Kubiak\u2019s system, using his mobility in the zone run game. Plus, Johnson\u2019s youth and durability fit the rebuild in Las Vegas. He is just entering his prime playing years, with a 90.7% pass block win rate over his four-year career with the Chargers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson was more than serviceable in 2025. However, that ceiling that he look to raise this past season was also kept from rising too high given the players he was forced to go to battle with on either side of him this week. No Rashawn Slater and Bradley Bozeman at center was a tough draw. He still played well enough to potentially earn a second contract with the Chargers despite not necessarily living up to his first-round billing.<\/p>\n
If he winds up signing elsewhere, the Chargers will unfortunately have one more hole to fill along their offensive interior. Luckily for them, there are some decent players who shouldn\u2019t cost too much that could come in an be an upgrade over any of the three interior players from 2025. If they can land center Tyler Linderbaum, or even guard David Andrews, they\u2019d be in a great place heading into the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until the new league year starts and we begin to find out where all the most notable free…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1014,262,58782,2453,2444,2443,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-759141","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-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","12":"tag-los-angeles-chargers-free-agency","13":"tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-losangeleschargers","16":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116088398009980374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759141","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=759141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}