Extension Candidate: Tuli Tuipulotu

While the 29-year-old James is a more established player than Tuipulotu, 23, the latter has been a highly productive player at a premium position. Between that and his age, Tuipulotu will reel in a larger extension than James. That’s assuming the Chargers lock up Tuipulotu, which seems like a strong possibility for a team that lacks long-term certainty at the position.

The Commanders lured Odafe Oweh out of Los Angeles with a four-year, $100MM offer in free agency, though the Chargers were able to retain the revered Khalil Mack for a guaranteed $18MM. While Mack remains a force, he is 35 and taking his career on a year-to-year basis. Bud Dupree, 33, will also be a free agent in a year, and he is coming off a career-low two sacks over 16 games in 2025.

With the goal of adding a strong prospect to the cupboard in this year’s draft, the Chargers spent the 22nd overall pick on former Miami standout Akheem Mesidor. If Mack is gone in a year, they could turn to an extended Tuipulotu and Mesidor as their top edge defenders in 2027 and beyond.

Tuipulotu, a Southern California native who attended USC, made a seamless transition to the pros after the Bolts drafted him in the second round in 2023. As a rookie, the 54th overall pick played a full 17-game season, made 11 starts and recorded a 73.96% defensive snap share, trailing only Mack among Chargers edge players. The oft-injured Joey Bosa missed eight games, but Tuipulotu stepped up with 53 tackles (eight TFL), 12 QB hits, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Bosa was healthier during a 14-game 2024, though the Chargers continued to rely heavily on Tuipulotu. Although his total starts dropped to nine, he played a second straight 17-game campaign and led Chargers edge defenders in snap share (66.97%). Tuipulotu’s QB hits and sacks increased to 17 and 8.5, respectively, and he also chipped in 11 TFL. Along with his quality traditional numbers, he ranked 17th among all edge defenders in pass rush win rate.

The Chargers released Bosa in March 2025, and Mack went on to miss five games with a dislocated elbow. Their absences did not faze Tuipulotu, whose production exploded en route to his first Pro Bowl nod. Despite missing one game, the 6-foot-3, 266-pounder easily notched career bests in QB hits (23), TFL (20) and sacks (13). In addition to logging the league’s ninth-highest pressure rate, Tuipuloto showed off his prowess in the running game. Household names Maxx Crosby, Jared Verse and Byron Young were the only edge defenders to post a higher run stop win rate than Tuipuloto (31%).

Like Tuipulotu, Young is scheduled to become a free agent next March. Kayvon Thibodeaux, YaYa Diaby, Nick Herbig, Jermaine Johnson and Myles Murphy are a handful of other notable pass rushers who could hit the open market looking for multiyear deals. As the youngest of the bunch, Tuipulotu will likely have the highest potential earning power if he is still without a contract then.

Oweh, Jaelan Phillips and Trey Hendrickson each signed four-year deals worth between $24MM and $30MM per annum in free agency this offseason. Phillips is now one of nine edge defenders averaging $30MM per year, but Tuipuloto figures to add to the list this summer if an extension comes together. With the salary cap continuing to rise, something in the annual range of $32MM to $34MM may be in store for Tuipuloto, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic. That would represent a massive increase over the $5.77MM he is on track to make this year, but he has made a legitimate case for that type of raise.