Chargers Links to Deebo Samuel Need to End With Training Camp’s Start

The Los Angeles Chargers are a magnet for being linked to big-name wide receivers.

Chargers signing free agent Tyreek Hill? Projected endlessly. Chargers trading for George Pickens? Suggested all the time. DK Metcalf? AJ Brown? Any wideout who can catch footballs? Common.

It’s not hard to see why. The Chargers have yet to provide Justin Herbert with elite surroundings. A first-round investment in Quentin Johnston hasn’t fully paid off yet. It’s a depth chart at receiver that has Ladd McConkey and a rotating list of names.

Now, there’s the added fact that Mike McDaniel is the coordinator installing a new scheme. He has certain wants from his players and plenty of NFL-wide connections.

And the one that keeps coming up the most, by far, is Deebo Samuel.

Chargers signing Deebo Samuel isn’t the move

Washington Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel — Deebo Samuel | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

By now, even NFL fans who don’t have a ton of exposure to happenings around the Chargers have been reminded that, yes, in fact, Samuel played in a McDaniel scheme at one point in his career.

Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports is the latest to propose the idea, making that connection and saying the Chargers are one of the only landing spots in the NFL that make sense for Samuel.

“In his one season as the OC with San Francisco back in 2021, Samuel led the NFL with 18.2 yards per reception while racking up 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns,” Dajani wrote. “It was Samuel's best NFL season, and a reunion with McDaniel could make some sense.”

It’s fair to make the past connection, no doubt. But we’re talking about 2021.

2021.

It’s 2026.

Samuel hasn’t had 1,000 yards in a season since that 2021 effort, let alone hit that 1,400-yard mark. Last year, he had 727 yards and five scores in Washington over 16 games, with a career-low 10.1 yards per catch. Now, he’s 30 years old.

The Chargers are banking on McDaniel’s scheme getting the most out of McConkey and Johnston, which is a pretty fair play to them. They also have big investments in second-year players Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith. McDaniel’s only major outside addition, too, was spending a draft pick on Brenen Thompson.

If the Chargers add another wideout, it’s probably going to be a smaller name, barring a training camp injury. And even if they go bigger than expected, there’s enough working against Samuel to suggest he wouldn’t be high on the list at this stage of his career.

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