Chargers Trade With Seahawks Did Right by Undrafted Free Agent

The trade aftermath for the Chargers and the player involved looks great.

Joe Hortiz | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The chaos of NFL final cuts, 53-man rosters, practice squads and everything else included a big-time notable trade for the Los Angeles Chargers. 

It didn’t make national waves at the time by any means, but was a win nonetheless for Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz and the club when they shipped cornerback Avery Smith to the Seattle Seahawks. 

The compensation for the Chargers was a mere sixth-round pick in 2027. But that’s the face-value stuff. 

Overall? The move was a win for the Chargers and, frankly, a good move by the franchise that sends a message to other NFL players that the team will take care of their own. 

Chargers-Seahawks trade fallout, analysis

Avery Smith | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That last big might sound dramatic, but ponder this: Is there a better place for a cornerback to land than with the Seahawks? 

Probably not. 

Smith himself, an undrafted free agent, was shocked by the move, yet happy to land in Seattle, never mind the presence of former Toledo teammates on the roster there.

“I follow football,” Smith said according to Gregg Bell of the News Tribune, “and I haven’t really heard of an undrafted free agent getting traded before the regular season. So that is what surprised me.”

Seahawks general manager John Schneider spoke highly of Smith, too.

“Phenomenal preseason,” Schneider said, per Bell. “I mean outside, nickel, he’s played in our defense (scheme-wise, similar to the Chargers’) now.”

So yes, the Chargers let go of a good one. But they also did right by him and won. There were simply too many good ones to roster at the time of making the 53: 

• Derwin James
• Donte Jackson
• Cam Hart
• Tarheeb Still
• Deane Leonard 
• Nikko Reed 
• Rodney Shelley
• Eric Rogers

Eric Rogers is gone now, but Nikko Reed is back on the practice squad. The Chargers went out and signed the high-profile Kaiir Elam to the practice squad, too. 

Point is, the Chargers turned a cut who might have been grabbed up by another team into a gained asset. The franchise is almost uncannily good at finding rosterable players at cornerback now. 

Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still were mid-round finds. Donte Jackson was a rehab project breakout. Smith is one of several undrafted free agents over the last few years who have panned out well, too. 

At this point, turning the excess into assets is just smart. And the Chargers should keep earning a reputation of doing right by players, while other teams start to keep an eye on the cornerbacks they like, too.

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