Why the Chargers traded Keenan Allen and what’s next for Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz | Top Vip News

Keenan Allen is on his way to Chicago, and the Los Angeles Chargers are now firmly over their precarious salary cap situation.

After months of speculation about the Chargers’ big four veteran contracts (Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Mike Williams and Allen) we have our answer, at least initially, about who’s staying, who’s leaving and at what price.

The Chargers released Williams on Wednesday, saving $20 million in cap space. Mack and Bosa agreed to restructure contracts, according to league sources. Mack accepted his Wednesday before the new league year. Bosa accepted his contract on Thursday before the roster bonus deadline. As part of those restructurings, Mack took a $4.25 million pay cut and Bosa took a $7 million pay cut, according to NFL Network. Mack’s restructure saves the Chargers $12.92 million in space, according to numbers from Over the Cap. Bosa’s restructure will end up saving the Chargers about $11 million in cap space, according to the NFL Network report.

Live updates: Free agent news from around the NFL
AF Tracker: New teams and contract details for the top 150 free agents
Best players available: Who is still on the market?
Grades: The best and worst of free agent deals

And then came Allen. The Chargers traded one of the best players in franchise history to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick on Thursday night. According to league sources, the Chargers approached Allen for a pay cut and he refused. The structure of the proposed pay cut was similar to the adjustments Bosa and Mack agreed to: cutting part of the salary before restructuring the deal by converting part of the new total salary into a signing bonus. That would have allowed the Chargers to use bonus proration for two years to free up space. The Chargers and Allen couldn’t come to an agreement, and that’s when trade talks resumed, according to a league source. The trade saves the Chargers an additional $23.1 million in space.

Bosa and Mack, the two edge rushers, return. Allen is gone. Williams is now on the open market.

Given the projected savings for Bosa, the Chargers are working with about $30 million in cash space, which includes the money needed to pay for draft picks and reach the 51-man roster minimum. If we budget $8 million for in-season moves (a rough projection for things like practice squad and injury settlements), the Chargers are working with about $21.5 million in pure cap space.

This brings us to the big question: What exactly is coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz’s plan?

Until the Allen trade, there was synergy and intention in every move the Chargers made. The cap situation dictated that they had to abandon at least one of the big four contracts. They made that move by releasing Williams, allowing them to meet the salary cap before the new league year deadline. They brought back safety Alohi Gilman, who played well as a starter last season alongside Derwin James Jr. They agreed to terms with running back Gus Edwards and signed blocking tight end Will Dissly, two additions aimed at building a reliable running game for the quarterback. field Justin Herbert. .

Harbaugh and Hortiz publicly stated their desire to win in 2024. Hortiz was more explicit in early February when he said, “We want to compete to win a championship every year. That’s going to start now. That’s not going to be, ‘Let’s just gut it out and start over.'” By restructuring Bosa and Mack, the Chargers kept two really good players (when healthy) at a prime position. The duo gives new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter weapons to work with as he implements his plan in Los Angeles.

The Chargers were apparently avoiding complete dismantling. The San Francisco 49ers went 6-10 the year before hiring Harbaugh as their head coach in 2011. Harbaugh went 13-3 in his first year in San Francisco and reached the NFC Championship Game. He has executed a quick changeup before in the NFL and based on the moves, it looked like he was going to try to do the same in Year 1 with the Chargers.

Everything made sense. Until Allen’s change.

This move was jarring on multiple levels.

Of course, there is the sentimental aspect. Allen is a Chargers veteran. He said in January that he wanted to retire from the organization. He has the most yards of any wide receiver in franchise history. He is loved by the fan base. And now, like Junior Seau and LaDainian Tomlinson and Eric Weddle and Philip Rivers before him, Allen is ready to finish his career in another uniform.

There is also the planning aspect of the list. Why keep both edge rushers and get rid of both receivers? Allen was one of four Chargers players Harbaugh specifically mentioned in his introductory press conference on Feb. 1. He is a highly productive player with a lot more in the tank. If the goal is to win in 2024, how does Allen playing in Chicago help the Chargers achieve it?

Allen is coming off perhaps the best season of his career: 108 receptions (a franchise record) for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games. He missed the final four games with a heel injury he suffered against the Denver Broncos in Week 14, the same game in which Herbert suffered a season-ending broken finger. Allen never suited up for backup quarterback Easton Stick. In the first game Allen missed, the Chargers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 63-21. Coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco were fired the next day.

The day after the regular season ended, Allen spoke about his injury. “There was no chance of making the playoffs, so it was kind of like not getting hurt,” he said. “I probably could have played in a playoff-type game or something like that. He probably could have fought.”

The Chargers paid Harbaugh at the top of the coaching market to reset the culture. Something to consider in juxtaposition to that quote.

Something else to consider is the Chargers’ financial situation. They’re paying Harbaugh. They’ve assembled a massive staff of 29 assistant coaches, including executive director of player performance Ben Herbert, whom Harbaugh brought with him from Michigan. The cap is an equalizer for the teams. However, cash spending is not at all the same. Each team operates with a different cash budget. The Chargers are saving nearly $35 million in cash between the Bosa and Mack pay cuts and the Allen trade.

Surely some of that money will be spent to expand the workforce. That process is already underway. The Chargers reached an agreement with Poona Ford, their confirmed agent in X. Tight end Hayden Hurst said The AthleticJoe Person that he was visiting the Chargers on Thursday with the intention to sign. They reportedly signed former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Troy Dye, who played for special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken in Minnesota. They also reportedly rehired Stick.

And more moves are likely on the horizon. They still need to sign a center back. Bradley Bozeman, a 2018 draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens, was released by the Carolina Panthers earlier this week. Hortiz spent 26 years on the Ravens front office. Former Los Angeles Rams starting center Brian Allen is still available.

Now the Chargers have significant leeway to attack the lower tier of free agency. There’s also nothing stopping them from re-signing Williams, depending on how their market develops.

As The AthleticDianna Russini reported last week that the Chargers were evaluating the trade market for their veteran players, including Mack and Bosa, ahead of the new league year. In the end they felt the fourth-round pick was fair compensation for Allen. With the return of Mack and Bosa, it’s fair to assume that the Chargers felt that keeping both players outweighed any hypothetical offer they received.

Perhaps the Chargers could have been more aggressive in the upper levels of free agency if they had made their cap moves sooner. The timing of all of this is something Hortiz and Harbaugh will have to explain when they address the media. Still, with the number of holes in the roster, looking for bargains to build depth has been and continues to be a sensible approach.

A more exact plan should crystallize over the weekend and next week.

After firing Staley and Telesco in December, owner Dean Spanos said he would be “reimagining” his process to “build and maintain a championship-caliber organization.”

The Chargers hired Harbaugh and Hortiz to do just that.

Trading Allen is a bold move. It goes against how the Chargers have operated for more than a decade. But that was the point, right?

Understandably, it hurts and hurts the fan base.

Change is never easy.

Change doesn’t necessarily translate into success either.

After leaving behind a franchise legend, that is the weight and responsibility that Harbaugh and Hortiz now carry.

(Top photo: Ryan Kang/Getty Images)