Los Angeles Chargers General manager Tom Telesco has made the most aggressive offseason of his Chargers tenure. Telesco said he wanted the offseason to improve his team’s defense to make them more complete.
The Chargers had the second-most cap space in the NFL heading into free agency at $56.3 million. With their wealth, they acquired pass rusher Khalil Mack, cornerback J.C. Jackson, linebacker Kyle Van Noy, defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day and more.
“You don’t really know what you have until we start playing,” Telesco said Monday. “You can only see so much in practice.”
The Chargers finished 30th in the NFL run defense last season. The new additions are expected to improve their run defense performance.
“I hate hearing you look good on paper,” Telesco said. “You don’t really know until you get into September where you really are. But the roster is never set. You’re constantly thinking about it or moving things around.”
“Every team thinks they’re a lot better right now. Every team thinks they’re going to playoffs. Every team I’ve ever been on. Even in my last year with the Colts, we had a rookie quarterback, although he was pretty good, but our team was completely changed. We still felt like we had a playoff team.”
The Chargers now have arguably one of the best rosters in the NFL. Their Justin Herbert-led offensive line finished in the top five in many statistical categories last year.
Herbert as key player
Herbert is heading into his third year with Los Angeles. The sixth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft has quickly risen to be one of the top players in NFL quarterback history.
“Going into this camp and having a year of film to look back on and study and go through, is so helpful,” said Herbert. “We’re miles ahead of where we were at this point last year.”
The NFL MVP candidate threw for 5,014 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions last season. He rushed for three more touchdowns and 302 yards. Back in 2020, Herbert finished with 4,336 passing yards, 234 rushing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, ten interceptions and five touchdowns in his total.
“There is no pressure on us,” Herbert said. “The only pressure that you make is what you put on yourself.”
Pundits have predicted that Herbert will lead the Chargers to the postseason, implying a possibility for the Chargers to finish the season as the AFC champion.
“There’s windows every year. You just have to build the team differently based on where the reality is of where your team is,” Telesco said. “When Philip Rivers was here, he had a big contract. We had to build the team differently. When I was with the Colts, Peyton Manning all those years, we had to build it a certain way. One year that Andrew Luck was there with a rookie contract, you build it a different way.”
The Chargers finished third in the AFC West last season at 9-8. They missed the playoffs after losing three of their final four games.