Chargers Free Agency Signing Contract Cap Hits, Updated Cap Space Revealed

Los Angeles Chargers contractual cap hits for recent free agent signings continue to drip out into the public.

A Chargers team that has been timid in free agency so far announced a few new moves as of late.

Now, Over The Cap has cap hits.

Some of the names:

QB Trey Lance: $2.5 million
S Tony Jefferson: $2 million
LS Josh Harris: $1.5 million

Of note, getting Tony Jefferson back for the secondary is a huge deal for a defense that wants to let Derwin James keep patrolling near the line of scrimmage. The cap hit hasn’t been fully revealed yet, but he signed a one-year deal worth $2 million, so it should be near that range.

As for Trey Lance, he’s another big win for the Chargers as one of the better backups in the NFL and a scheme fit for Mike McDaniel. His “up to $6.5 million” reported deal is heavily based on things like incentives, with the real cap hit being much lower, as expected.

Chargers cap space update after free agent signings

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance — Trey Lance | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

All told, according to Over The Cap, the Chargers have roughly $48.6 million in free cap space right now.

While conservative this free agency, the Chargers have hit on some major needs like tight end and starting center while rounding out the new-look offense. They entered the offseason with roughly $99 million.

Getting Khalil Mack back was once again one of the biggest cap hits, this time at an $18 million mark.

Keep in mind the Chargers still have other tools at their disposal if they need to make more space. A contract restructure of Herbert’s deal, for example, would save roughly $17 million. Doing that for Rashawn Slater would net about $12.5 million.

Given how timid the Chargers have been, there’s no reason to think they pull these levers, but the flexibility remains.

The Chargers will still need to pay a draft class and could shift money around on things like contract extensions for names like Derwin James and Tuli Tuipulotu over the summer, too.

Clearly, the Chargers have these types of things in mind as the taking little to no risks while retaining high cap flexibility far into the future. Frustrating to some fans, no doubt, but general manager Joe Hortiz has followed a blueprint he learned in Baltimore well so far.

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