Chargers surprisingly decide to release veteran defender

The teardown continues for the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers announced on Friday that they have decided to waive veteran defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network terms the move a “surprise” and says Joseph-Day will now be a potential addition to a playoff team.

The 28-year-old Joseph-Day was a Chargers team captain and had started in 30 games for them over the last two seasons (including 14 this year). Before joining the Chargers in 2022, he started for the Los Angeles Rams team that went on to win Super Bowl LVI (though Joseph-Day was injured with a torn pectoral for much of that playoff run).

While the Chargers’ sudden release of a captain is a stunner, Joseph-Day was seen as a Brandon Staley guy who followed Staley from the Rams to the Chargers. Staley has since gotten fired (with a couple of interesting possible replacements in the mix), and Joseph-Day is now free to help out the run defense of a team that is actually in playoff contention.