Was the Keenan Allen trade a tough pill to swallow for the fans of the Los Angeles Chargers? Certainly. Was it popular? Not at all. But now that the dust has settled after free agency and the draft, one Chargers analyst notes that freeing themselves from Allen’s $34.7 million cap hit opened the door for patching roster needs across the entire depth chart.
Dan Wolkenstein, the host of the Chargers Unleashed podcast, points out that the cap hits of the entire Chargers free-agent haul for 2024 are less than what Allen’s would have been barring a restructure. He would have represented about 13 percent of the total cap for the team
Los Angeles Chargers Free Agency Haul
This list includes 10 new additions to the roster that fill some of the most desperately needed positions, as well as, resigning four in-house much-needed free agents.
Here are the cap hits of all 14 players as provided by Over The Cap, save for that of DJ Chark, whose contract details have not been released. His one-year deal will be worth, up to $5 million, meaning his cap hit will be significantly less than that.
- Alohi Gilman $3,375,000
- Kristian Fulton $2,885,000
- Will Dissly $2,625,000
- Gus Edwards $2,250,000
- Denzel Perryman $2,175,000
- Poona Ford $1,790,000
- Troy Dye $1,790,000
- Easton Stick $1,292,500
- J.K. Dobbins $1,130,000
- Bradley Bozeman $1,125,000
- Hayden Hurst $1,125,000
- Foster Sarell $985,000
- Cameron Dicker $985,000
- Total: $23,532,500
Even with Chark’s impending cap hit, the Chargers cleared Allen’s cap hit by more than $10 million, which leaves them with $30 million to work with for other additions and to sign their rookie class. The Allen move was certainly a bold and unpopular one, but it has allowed the Chargers to field a more complete team in the long run, with room to bring more players on.
