https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/2024/01/22/chargers-free-agents-michael-davis-austin-ekeler/

Alex Insdorf
January 22, 2024 5:46 pm PT

The Chargers are in the hunt for a new general manager and head coach as
they transition into 2024, but the calendar will soon turn toward free
agency. The soon-to-be-hired leadership will have some tough decisions
to make on their roster with several key internal free agents.

Los Angeles will enter March with just over two dozen free agents that
have the potential to hit the open market. However, for the sake of this
exercise, I’ve decided to remove the lower-cost restricted and exclusive
rights free agents to focus on the unrestricted class.

To make the necessary improvements on their roster, there are some
Chargers that just have to be moved on from in the long term.

RB Austin Ekeler

Ekeler is one of the longest-tenured Chargers who has been with the team
since signing in 2017 as an undrafted free agent. He’s had an incredibly
productive career in usage, with over 8,000 scrimmage yards on 1,430
touches in that span.

But with that aforementioned production comes miles. Ekeler will be 29
when the 2024 season starts. Unfortunately, this past season was one of
his least efficient campaigns. He averaged a career-low 3.5 yards per
carry. He finished with just seven explosive runs over 10+ yards, a mark
that tied the lowest single-season figure in his seven seasons.

He won’t be too expensive on the open market, considering the down year
in 2023. But it’s time for the Chargers to rebuild the running back room
from the ground up with the impending free agency periods for Ekeler and
Joshua Kelley. Ekeler is clearly on the decline as he approaches his 30s
and Los Angeles needs explosive players more than safety valves.

CB Michael Davis

Perhaps no Charger embodies hot and cold streaks as much as Davis does.
In 2020 and 2022, Davis had quasi-shutdown years in coverage that gave
LA hope for long-term production. But his 2021 and 2023 campaigns
featured a lot of inconsistent play and coverage mistakes. Davis even
got benched by Brandon Staley and the defensive staff at times.

Like Ekeler, Davis will be 29 when the 2024 campaign starts. Cornerbacks
tend to have shorter primes. Last season, Davis allowed the highest
target reception percentage, total yards, and opposing quarterback
passer rating of his career.

Asante Samuel Jr. will be going into a contract year. Outside of him,
the Chargers have no true starting corners on the roster right now.
Still, it’s time to blow up the initial Staley plan that involved J.C.
Jackson and a now struggling Davis in favor of a new vision.

DT Austin Johnson

Johnson’s two years with the Chargers are defined by a knee injury he
suffered against the Falcons in 2022. It would end his season
prematurely while he was playing pretty well. Johnson was fifth in run
stop percentage among defensive tackles at the time of his injury.

Unfortunately, Johnson never quite rebounded to the same level of play
in 2023. He finished the season with the lowest Pro Football Focus
defensive grade of his career, with 20 fewer run stops than his 2021
Giants season.

After parting ways with Sebastian Joseph-Day towards the end of the
year, it seems the Chargers are headed towards a full-scale rebuild in
the defensive tackle room. It’s a unit that could probably use a fresh
start.

LB Kenneth Murray

By declining to pick up Murray’s fifth-year option last April, the
Chargers essentially let us know where they stood with him. There’s not
much more to it than that.

To be fair, Murray had a decent season by his standards. He was fitting
runs better as a linebacker and improved as a tackler by most metrics
paired with film.

That said, there’s a glaring weakness in Murray’s game that will likely
always be an issue. Murray and Eric Kendricks were picked apart by
opposing quarterbacks consistently in pass coverage. The former
first-round pick out of Oklahoma allowed 56 receptions for 660 yards.
Murray gave up 245 more passing yards than his 2020 season despite
playing fewer coverage snaps.

Maybe there’s an argument to bring back Murray as a rotational piece,
considering his improvement as a tackler. Still, he’s just not a
starting linebacker in the modern NFL as a liability in coverage.

WR Jalen Guyton

Guyton was never not a one-trick pony in the league. However, his 4.3
straight-line speed combined with Justin Herbert’s cannon of an arm made
him a viable threat early in his career.

His torn ACL early in the season against Jacksonville in 2022 has
changed his career trajectory. Guyton missed about half of the 2023
campaign due to his recovery and when he returned, he never looked like
the same player athletically.

Despite an injured Chargers’ wide receiver room that was practically
begging for someone to step up and contribute, Guyton finished with ten
receptions for 89 yards in eight games. He registered the lowest yards
per route run mark of his career at 0.5 if one would want to look at
target efficiency.

The one-dimensional nature of Guyton’s game got exposed due to him not
having that same level of souped-up track star speed. As a result, I’m
not seeing much of a purpose for an aging version of him potentially
returning to the Chargers.

It's funny because after this article, another came out with FA's they must re-sign and 3 of these show up on the list lol

ReneG wrote:

> It's funny because after this article, another came out with FA's they must re-sign and 3 of these show up on the list lol
>

Which three?

I thought this article was spot-on, unfortunately. (Although I didn't
realize how much Austin Johnson's injury had set him back.)

--Robin

On Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 4:59:52 PM UTC-8, Robin Miller wrote:
> ReneG wrote:
>
> > It's funny because after this article, another came out with FA's they must re-sign and 3 of these show up on the list lol
> >
> Which three?
>
> I thought this article was spot-on, unfortunately. (Although I didn't
> realize how much Austin Johnson's injury had set him back.)
>
> --Robin

Murray, Davis and Johnson

ReneG wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 4:59:52 PM UTC-8, Robin Miller wrote:
>> ReneG wrote:
>>
>>> It's funny because after this article, another came out with FA's they must re-sign and 3 of these show up on the list lol
>>>
>> Which three?
>>
>> I thought this article was spot-on, unfortunately. (Although I didn't
>> realize how much Austin Johnson's injury had set him back.)
>>
>> --Robin
>
> Murray, Davis and Johnson
>

While there are arguments for bringing back Murray and Davis, they would
probably cost to much at this point, given their seasons of service.

--Robin

On Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 4:59:52 PM UTC-8, Robin Miller wrote:
> ReneG wrote:
>
> > It's funny because after this article, another came out with FA's they must re-sign and 3 of these show up on the list lol
> >
> Which three?
>
> I thought this article was spot-on, unfortunately. (Although I didn't
> realize how much Austin Johnson's injury had set him back.)
>
> --Robin

Yeah, Murray had a couple of flashes this year but overall he hasn't developed much in his time here. Ekeler is washed, and Davis got burnt to a crisp this year. And Johnson and Guyton did not recover from their injuries to contribute much as the article points out.

A lot of people have mentioned the Chargers' cap issues but I think they will be able to clear a bunch of space this year and be in prime position for next year when Herbert's extension kicks in. Very few of their free agents are worth retaining imo so they'll be able to get younger and cheaper without losing a lot of production.

Michael

> While there are arguments for bringing back Murray and Davis, they would
> probably cost to much at this point, given their seasons of service.
>
>
> --Robin

Did you see how much Pipkins is scheduled to make next season? He's getting a $5 million bump. He will be over 8 million! That's insane!!

ReneG wrote:
>
>> While there are arguments for bringing back Murray and Davis, they would
>> probably cost to much at this point, given their seasons of service.
>>
>>
>> --Robin
>
> Did you see how much Pipkins is scheduled to make next season? He's getting a $5 million bump. He will be over 8 million! That's insane!!
>

What? He had a lousy season.

And I'm embarrassed to see my "too" misspelling in the quoted post.

--Robin