Chargers training camp starts, meaning watch out for surprise trades, roster moves

The Los Angeles Chargers haven’t made big splashy moves under general manager Joe Hortiz despite sitting on mountains of cap space and with plenty of needs across the roster. 

But they have made moves and training camp officially starts with rookies reporting this weekend. 

That proved especially true last year, when Hortiz, head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers made several notable trades or waiver wire additions right in the middle of training camp. 

Daniel Popper of The Athletic provided a summary recently: 

“Last year, the Chargers made several August moves. They signed defensive lineman Teair Tart midway through camp to beef up their interior depth. In late August, they traded for backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke, and they traded for Molden, as our question-asker mentioned.”

None of those moves were insignificant. Elijah Molden let the team move Derwin James around on a surprise top-five defense. Teair Tart was a breakout player. Both guys got extensions this offseason. Taylor Heinicke is still around as a critical, top backup. 

So what moves could the Chargers make this year in the middle of training camp?

Keep an eye on that offensive line, where the Chargers seem content to roll with Bradley Bozeman and Zion Johnson on the interior, just swapped positions compared to last year. If that starts flopping, it’s hard to imagine Hortiz and the Chargers will sit still. 

Ditto for a spot like cornerback, where only Donte Jackson joins Tarheeb Still and Cam Hart. Or perhaps tight end, where Tyler Conklin was the big addition and rookie Oronde Gadsden could need development time. Plus, any spot that suffers an injury bug. 

While the Chargers don’t make splashes, this regime has already shown it can and will make meaningful moves during camp.