The Los Angeles Chargers are probably going to look a lot different next season. All signs point towards Phillip Rivers moving onto a different team. 14 other contracts are also set to expire including Hunter Henry and Melvin Gordon. They also have defensive end Joey Bosa who is going to be looking for a big-time day.
According to spotrac.com, the Chargers are expected to have almost $52 million in cap space which is above the league projected average of $47 million. The team is going to have plenty of money to spend, but even when teams have a lot of money available, there still seems to be one or two guys who are cut that surprise a lot of people.
Let's breakdown one player the Chargers could cut, that would shock most.
Mike Pouncey
Mike Pouncey is a leader of the team on the field and in the locker room but the team might not have any choice but to move on from him this offseason.
During Week 5, Pouncey suffered a neck injury that was so bad some are concerned that it is career-threatening. After the injury, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said it was a big loss for the team.
“We’re going to miss him — his leadership and on the field,” Lynn said via Jeff Miller of the LA Times. “But we are tickled to death that he’s OK with the injury that he had.”
Left guard Dan Feeney helped fill the role that Pouncey left, but said it hurt seeing one of his teammates go down with such a serious injury.
“He’s one of the best ones going,” Feeney said. “He’s a really tough guy to replace. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him. It’s one of those things you don’t see coming. He’s gotta take care of himself at this point.”
Pouncey is 30 years old, and sometimes players never actually recover from such a serious injury. All signs right now are pointing towards him coming back, but until he is back on the field practicing with the team and having contact with others, it's hard to know if he will be able to come back at a high level.
He is under contract for next season with the Chargers with a cap hit of $7.25 million. If the team were to cut him they would only accrue $2.5 million in dead cap space.
If the team doesn't think he can come back at a high level, the team could move on from him.
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