After a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders, the Los Angeles Chargers failed to make the playoffs in the 2021 season after putting together a strong year. With Justin Herbert and others looking to run things back, the 2022 NFL offseason is going to be key for any playoff hopes this team may have.

With an extremely long list of free agents hitting the open market from their team, the Chargers have a lot of important decisions to make this offseason but are flush with cap space to do so. With not a lot of teams having salary cap space to utilize this offseason, it bodes well for Los Angeles in their chase of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

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Chargers Offseason Predictions

4. Mike Williams Returns

The first four years of his career were quite uneven (only one career 1K receiving yard season), but Mike Williams turned it up a notch in his contract season, producing career highs across the board.

76 receptions for 1,146 and 9 TDs is what Williams produced last year, but with a career-worst 7 drops, so not everything was perfect. With Keenan Allen getting up there in age and Josh Palmer still needing to get his feet on solid ground in the NFL, a return for Williams makes sense.

3. Brandon Scherff becomes OL anchor

The Chargers set out to protect Herbert the last two offseasons, bringing two former Green Bay Packers in – tackle Bryan Bulaga and center Corey Linsley. With both players having potential outs in their deals if the team wants to move on, the offensive line needs some depth.

Brandon Scherff is the best OL on the open market this offseason and arguably the best free-agent altogether, meaning he will have plenty of suitors. But with the Chargers having a lot of cap space to work with, they could help secure Scherff’s services for the next 4-5 seasons by outbidding everyone else.

Scherff is over 30 years old himself (just like Bulaga and Linsley), which presents a risk, but his consistent play justifies a massive payday to help keep Herbert clean.

2. Two TE additions are made

Jared Cook and Donald Parham were the two tight ends for the Chargers this past year, and they continued the downward trend of that position, so something needs to change.

By investing resources into this position, it would provide Herbert with even more targets in the passing game, hopefully making defenses have to choose who to cover and who to leave open.

A likely target in free agency is Miami’s Mike Gesicki – the 26-year-old is up there with Dalton Schultz as the cream of the TE crop this offseason, but Gesicki will likely be on the cheaper side. Stealing from a fellow AFC team makes it nice, but Gesicki could finally bring some relevancy back to the TE position the Chargers haven’t seen since Antonio Gates.

The draft doesn’t have a Kyle Pitts-like talent this year, but the depth is impressive. Colorado State’s Trey McBride is the TE1 for some analysts due to his fluidity and ability to be a capable blocker and a receiver, valuable tools to have at the next level.

1. Big-money extensions handed out to stars

Both Austin Ekeler and Derwin James are coming due for contract extensions soon, as Ekeler has two more years remaining and James is heading into the final year of his rookie deal. As both players have ascended into star status for the Chargers, it’s safe to say they are deserving of big-money contract extensions.

For Ekeler, securing the bag at this point in his career is important, as running backs are treated like trash when it comes to extension negotiations. But with his two-way abilities in the offense and how integral he is to the game plan, it is a no-brainer for Ekeler to be handed a wad of money for the next two-plus years.

A deal for Ekeler likely would ultimately tack on two more years at the end of his current deal that is set to end after the 2023 season and would push him to the open market when he turns 29. That is an age that RBs tend to get thrown to the wayside, so getting his guaranteed money now would be smart.

For James, he is looking to secure his first big NFL contract, and the Chargers are going to have to pay through the nose if they want to keep him for the long term.

As a comparison, Tyronn Mathieu signed a five-year, $62.5 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals when he was 23 years old. James will be playing the 2022 season at age 26, but will likely command a five-year deal with more guaranteed and overall money in it than what Mathieu received, likely putting him behind Jamal Adams and ahead of Justin Simmons in overall salary.

The Chargers are an exciting team with a core that is all mostly on the same timeline – if they can find a way to make it work in the tough AFC West, then the sky is the limit for them moving forward.