Deebo Samuel-Mike McDaniel Link for Chargers Proposed Again…Still Doesn’t Make Sense

After the draft, the NFL projections have fired up and started linking the Chargers to major names again.

Deebo Samuel | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers have constantly been projected for a "blockbuster" move all offseason. 

All sorts of stunning stuff, really. Trading for AJ Brown. Trading for George Pickens. Trading for other big names and signing the biggest and best free agents. 

From a theme and context standpoint, it makes sense. The Chargers feel like an all-in team around Justin Herbert. They went and got Mike McDaniel to lead the offense. Heck, they had around $100 million going into free agency, too. 

But the big moves…just never happened. The Chargers emphasized the compensatory draft pick formula while revamping the roster on the open market, then made a series of small moves to turn five picks into eight overall picks in the draft. 

In the aftermath of the draft, though? We’re right back to suggesting big moves for the Chargers, it seems. 

Chargers signing Deebo Samuel suggested yet again

Mike McDaniel | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Here’s a familiar name for Chargers fans: Deebo Samuel. 

Samuel has often been proposed as one of those big moves the Chargers should make. He’s a veteran wideout who scored five times last year in Washington and still averages 13.6 yards per catch in his career. 

There’s an important Chargers connection too. NFL.com’s Matt Okada recently chatted about this while saying Herbert’s team remains the best fit for Samuel this offseason. He pointed right at that 1,405-yard season for Samuel in 2021 during his days in San Francisco.

“The offensive coordinator in San Fran that season? Mike McDaniel ... under the tutelage of Kyle Shanahan, of course,” Okada wrote. “McDaniel’s now the man in L.A. This reunion could be electric -- pun intended -- for both Samuel and the Bolts.”

Problems with the idea start to form in a hurry, though. Samuel is now 30. That outburst happened in 2021. It’s 2026. 

That’s not to say it couldn’t work out on the field. But the Chargers are stacked at wideout right now. 

At wideout alone, the Chargers have this: 

• Ladd McConkey as the No. 1
• Quentin Johnston just had his fifth-year option picked up
• Tre Harris, a second-rounder last year
• KeAndre Lambert-Smith, a fifth-rounder last year
• Brenen Thompson, a fourth-round rookie
• (Keenan Allen is still a free agent and a potential return)

And that’s not even naming all of the final roster candidates. 

McDaniel’s first big addition at wideout this offseason was Brenen Thompson, a 4.26 weapon he can deploy on special teams and all over offensive formations for fun. 

That Thompson draft pick was the signal that the Chargers are pretty much done at wideout, barring a stunner. The Samuel idea is fun, but it feels like it had an expiration date long ago. 

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