Where do you go when you’ve reached the top?
The Chargers are about to find out in the next few months how they can improve a defense that was the NFL’s stingiest in the 2024 season, giving up a meager 17.7 points per game. Coach Jim Harbaugh and General Manager Joe Hortiz said they’re determined to improve for 2025, though.
Standing on success won’t cut it, they said earlier this month.
What that meant was still to be determined as of Tuesday. After all, the league’s free agency window doesn’t open until March and the draft won’t be held until April, so there is plenty of time to scheme and plan and brainstorm about what comes next for the league’s top defensive unit.
Like the Chargers’ offense, there are positions Harbaugh and Hortiz would like to fill with better and more experienced players. They did well in a short span of time and with a small bank account after they were hired early last year to replace Brandon Staley as coach and Tom Telesco as GM.
Hortiz shopped at the bargain bin because of some significant salary cap issues, but he came away with some gems. He also benefitted from the willingness of outside linebackers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack to restructure their contracts, making free-agent hunting and trade swaps possible at all.
Instead of jettisoning veterans like wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and asking Bosa and Mack for help with new contracts, Hortiz has plenty of salary cap space in his second year on the job. As of Tuesday, the Chargers have about $63 million in cap space, according to the website overthecap.com.
Mack, a 33-year-old pending unrestricted free agent, reportedly intends to play a 12th season. Whether it’s with the Chargers for a fourth season remains to be determined, but Harbaugh and Hortiz each said they would love for Mack to re-sign and renew his role as a team leader.
Bosa, 29, could restructure his contract again this offseason, bringing down a mammoth cap hit of more than $36 million for the 2025 season. The Chargers have depth at the position, but only if Mack and Bosa are paired together. If one or both move on, then it becomes a position of need.
In fact, the Chargers could use depth at all positions on defense, not just outside linebacker. They were so thin at cornerback after Asante Samuel Jr. suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that rookies Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still, two fifth-round draft picks, became starters.
Hart and Still excelled in their enhanced roles, but it’s likely Hortiz will seek depth and experience at the position as he goes free-agent stopping in March. Hortiz also could seek help at all defensive positions during the NFL draft, which will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The Chargers have picks in each of the first six rounds of the draft, including the 22nd overall. Hortiz is a big fan of compensatory picks, and the Chargers might have several of those once the league awards them before the draft. So, the Chargers might have as many as 10 picks overall in the draft.
Trades, like the one that netted defensive back Elijah Molden from the Tennessee Titans after training camp ended, also are a possibility. Hortiz made it plain last year that he likes to tinker with his roster, and finding a player who contributed as much as Molden did last season will only encourage him further.
Bottom line, according to Hortiz, “You’re always chasing improvement.”
Here’s a closer look at what Harbaugh/Hortiz 2.0 might look like on the defensive side of the football, plus a glimpse at the special teams in 2025:
UNDER CONTRACT
Bosa and fellow outside linebackers Bud Dupree and Tuli Tuipulotu, cornerbacks Hart and Still, defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia, linebackers Daiyan Henley and Junior Colson, safeties Derwin James Jr and Alohi Gilman, kicker Cameron Dicker and long snapper Josh Harris are back next season.
There is a quality core on which to build, including special teams standouts Dicker and Harris. Dupree, a cagey veteran, and Tuipulotu, a rising second-year player, gave the Chargers remarkable depth and experience at a key position. Henley had a breakout second season in the NFL.
James continued to play a vital role in all manner of situations.
The trick for Harbaugh and Hortiz is to identify where upgrades are necessary.
UPCOMING FREE AGENTS
Mack, Molden, defensive linemen Poona Ford, Morgan Fox and Teair Tart, cornerbacks Eli Apple, Kristian Fulton and Asante Samuel Jr., linebackers Troy Dye, Denzel Perryman, Nick Niemann and Shaq Quarterman, safeties Tony Jefferson and safety Marcus Maye, outside linebacker Chris Rumph II and punter JK Scott are pending free agents.
All of the Chargers’ free agents are unrestricted, eligible to sign elsewhere.
Mack was named to the Pro Bowl for the ninth time in his stellar career, and losing him via free agency would leave a massive void at his position but also in the locker room. Mack isn’t one to talk a good game. He’d rather play a good game and let others do the talking for him.
Ford and Fox played key roles in the Chargers’ improved play against the run this past season. Ford, in particular, made a huge difference after Hortiz nabbed him. Like Mack, Ford was more of a quiet leader, rarely speaking with reporters who wanted to learn about the Chargers’ defensive turnaround.
The Chargers went from 24th to first in scoring defense in 2024.
CAP CONCERNS
Basically, the Chargers have no salary cap issues this year, unlike last year when they were cap-crunched and forced to make a couple of drastic moves to get under the cap by the NFL’s mandated deadline. Hortiz did the best he could under the circumstances, but should have minimal concerns this year.
Well, Bosa’s cap hit should be concerning. It would give Hortiz more to work with if Bosa were to rework the final year of his contract. They could cut him and create an enormous savings of more than $25 million if they did it before June 1, according to overthecap.com. But that seems unlikely.
The Chargers are better with him than without him.
TOUGH DECISIONS
Hortiz’s toughest offseason decisions would seem to be whether to move on from a number of players who are set to be unrestricted free agents, including Mack, Dye, Ford, Fox, Molden, Perryman, Samuel and/or several other important contributors to last season’s stellar defense.
Harbaugh and Hortiz each said earlier this month they hoped to keep roster turnover to a minimum, but that seems to be an impossible task for any coach-GM tandem. Turnover is what the NFL is all about. Even the best teams alter their rosters, and the Chargers will be no exception.