Chargers' former top pick on 'thin ice,' could become trade candidate

When the Los Angeles Chargers selected Quentin Johnston in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, they thought they were landing a potential bona fide No. 1 wide receiver.

Obviously, that has not happened. At least not yet.

Johnston has struggled through his first couple of seasons and is coming off of a 2024 campaign in which he caught 55 passes for 711 yards and eight touchdowns. Those aren't terrible numbers, but they aren't great, either, and he also led all Chargers receivers with seven drops.

The 23-year-old still has time to get it together, but based on his first two years, it's beginning to look like Johnston may never become anything more than an auxiliary option.

So, is the TCU product potentially in danger of being dealt by Los Angeles? Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus thinks it could be a possibility in the somewhat near future.

"The Chargers won’t be ready to part with Quentin Johnston just yet, although the former first-rounder might be on thin ice going into Year 3," Locker wrote. "That leaves Johnson as a different marquee player who might be close to an exit."

Here's the thing; Johnston is under team control through 2027, so the Bolts may wish to ride it out with him until then. However, his trade value is also higher right now than it would be in a couple of years due to the fact that he still may have potential, and he's on a cheap contract.

So, yes: the Chargers actually may have some incentive to move Johnston if they are able to find the right price. The problem is that Los Angeles doesn't exactly have a deep receiving corps, so it may wish to hold onto Johnston at least up until the trade deadline to see if anything changes.

If the Temple, Tx. native continues to struggle, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the Chargers to attempt to trade him midway through 2025.