It was reported via twitter.com by Field Yates of ESPN that the Los Angeles Chargers have restructured the contract of center, Corey Linsley.
“Chargers C Corey Linsley agreed to a restructured contract that lowers his base salary from $11.5M to the minimum for the 2024 season. This moves creates $10.29M in cap space for now.”
Linsley missed all but the first three games of the 2023 season because of a non-emergent heart-related issue and he announced shortly after the end of the regular season that there was a 99 percent chance he would retire.
Whether this is a one percent move signalling Linsley’s return or just the first of many moves the Chargers are going to take to clear cap space ahead of the 2024 season, it was a necessary move to make.
Los Angeles Chargers Restructure Corey Linsley’s Contract
The Yates tweet went on to say, “if Linsley retires after June 1st, the team can spread the dead cap hit over 2 years.”
Per NFL Trade Rumors, “Retirements are treated like cuts in terms of how they hit the cap, so this allows the Chargers to wait until after June 1st to process his retirements and spread out the dead money while still getting the benefit of using the cap space before that date”
In the event that Linsley does retire, the Chargers won’t have a center on their roster. Both Cameron Tom and Will Clapp are free agents. Clapp started while Linsley was out in 2023. Chargers head coach, Jim Harbaugh, emphasized the importance of protecting the quarterback and running the ball in his introductory press conference. Given these factors finding a suitable center for his offense will be paramount. The Chargers will still need to do so on a budget. They are still $35 million over the cap with this move.
The former 5th-rounder signed a five-year $62.5 million contract with the Chargers in 2021.
