Chargers cap space update, Odafe Oweh contract details after surprise trade

Trade compensation, contracts and cap space outlooks were largely afterthoughts when the Los Angeles Chargers traded for Baltimore Ravens pass-rusher Odafe Oweh.

After all, the Chargers desperately needed help on the edge with Khalil Mack sitting on injured reserve. General manager Joe Hortiz and Co. going to get a first-round product to help right away and potentially long into the future was an A+ move on first pass, no matter the contract and cap space fallout.

But now that Oweh joined the Chargers for practice this week and could see hefty usage in his debut with the team, onlookers are free to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

Odafe Oweh contract details, Chargers cap space update

Oweh is on his fifth-year option, which checked in with a cap hit of $9.57 million. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the trade saved the Ravens roughly $8 million in cap space.

While not an inconsequential amount of money by any means for the Chargers, Hortiz and the front office consistently sat near the top of the NFL in free cap space for most of the offseason, even after making big moves like re-signing Mack, signing free agent Mekhi Becton and others.

That trend, however, is over. The Chargers only have roughly $2.8 million in free cap space after the trade, which ranks them near the bottom of the NFL. No wonder: Oweh’s cap number ranks him third on the Chargers outright behind only Justin Herbert and Derwin James.

The Chargers have other ways to create space, of course. But the numbers surrounding the move speak to the risk the front office was willing to take while the team attempts to correct course on the field.

linebacker Odafe Oweh — Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

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