Salary cap issues loom for next Chargers coach, GM

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Chargers were supposed to be contenders in 2023.

After a historic 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of last year's playoffs, the Chargers went into the offseason $20.5 million over the salary cap.

Instead of releasing or trading some of the team's highest-paid players, former general manager Tom Telesco decided to push much of that money into 2024, restructuring the contracts of receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, and edge rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack.

The move was an obvious indication that the Chargers' leadership believed this team could contend in 2023.

Almost a year later, Telesco's and former head coach Brandon Staley's bet on this season went horribly wrong, costing the pair their jobs after a 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15. Now the Chargers' salary cap issues of last season are left for their new coach and general manager to deal with.

This time, the Chargers are $27.5 million over the salary cap, according to ESPN's Roster Management System. At 5-12, with a roster laden with aging stars, this team no longer appears to be as close to contention as it seemed to be a season ago, putting the future of some of this team's best players in question.

"You can't get too emotional in this s--- man," Khalil Mack told ESPN. "You've got to understand that stuff will take care of itself when you talk about the future. At the end of the day, man, trying to win ball games and that's all I care about."

Mack is among the Chargers' highest-paid players, making him a candidate for being cut, traded or restructuring his contract next season. He joins Allen, Bosa and Williams as the Chargers players to have cap hits upward of $30 million next season.

For Bosa and Williams, injuries have riddled their seasons and Chargers tenures.

Williams fractured his back in Week 18 last season, missing the playoffs, and suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings this season. Bosa has played in just 14 games over the past two seasons, missing the Chargers' final seven after spraining his right foot in Week 11 against the Green Bay Packers.

Bosa and Williams have been among the Chargers' best players when healthy. In the three seasons that Bosa has played 16 games in his eight-year career, he's made the Pro Bowl. Williams earned a three-year, $60 million contract after a 2021 season where he had 76 catches for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns, all career-highs.

Williams is due $17 million next year as a part of the final year of that deal, and Bosa is owed $32 million over the final two years of the five-year, $135 million extension he signed in 2020. If the Chargers decide to move on from Williams this offseason via cut or trade, it would save them $20 million in 2024 while incurring a dead money charge of $12.46 million.

On Monday, Williams said that he is ahead of schedule with his ACL recovery and wants to be back with the Chargers next season. He also acknowledged, however, that his future is in the hands of whomever the Chargers choose as head coach and general manager.

"I know what I'm capable of doing," Williams said. "I know that I'm going to come back stronger, faster, and better after this injury. So I mean, yeah, I just got to focus on what I can focus on. That's me getting back better."

For Bosa, it's more complicated.

A pre-June 1st release or trade would save the Chargers $22 million next season and come with a dead money charge of $14,611,666. A post-June 1st release or trade would save the team $14.3 million and come with a dead money charge of $22.2 million. Either scenario would save the Chargers $25.3 million in 2025 and incur a dead money charge of $7.6 million. Bosa hasn't spoken with reporters since his injury.

The Chargers are posed with a similar decision with Mack and Allen, who are both coming off career-best seasons.

Allen was having the best season of his career before suffering a heel injury, which has kept him out of the Chargers' last three games. Allen set the Chargers' single-season record for receptions with 108, and reached 1,243 yards, the second-most in his career. He is also the longest-tenured Charger, joining the team in 2013 as a third-round pick. At the 2023 NFL combine, Telesco said that Allen "wasn't going anywhere," but with Telesco gone, that could change.

Allen has one year left on his contract, and a release or trade would save the Chargers $23.1 million in 2024, with a dead money charge of $11.6 million. But Allen has been adamant that he wants to stay with the Chargers, telling reporters Monday that he would retire if traded to a team he didn't wish to play for.

"I'm not playing for a team that I don't want play for," Allen said. "So that is what it is. I've been playing this game long enough, I'm kind of solidified on that side."

Mack, meanwhile, secured 17 sacks this season, a career-high and the second-most in the NFL. He is one of five players for a team that won five or fewer games to have 17 sacks since the stat was first tracked in 1982. His 17 sacks are also the second-most by a player 32 or older.

Mack is in the final year of his contract, and a trade or release would save the Chargers $23.2 million, with a dead money charge of $15.2 million in 2024. On Monday, Mack acknowledged the uncertainty of his future, noting that winning is a priority.

"I know what I bring to the game," Mack said, "understanding that I want to be a team guy. Whatever team, I'm not in control of that right now."

Allen, Williams, Mack and Bosa aren't the only contract decisions the Chargers will have to make this offseason. Center Corey Linsley, who signed a five-year, $62.5 million contract with the Chargers in March 2021 said Monday he would likely be retiring from the NFL because of a heart issue that kept out since Week 3 of this year.

There's also running back Austin Ekeler, who requested a trade in the offseason before returning to the Chargers on a contract with added incentives. After a down season, Ekeler will be a free agent, where he said he will be "selective" about where he plays.

Whatever decisions the Chargers' new hires make regarding this team's salary cap hurdles, this team may look much different next season.