Polarizing Chargers player named a cut candidate before training camp begins

The Chargers will have to trim the roster down to 53 players after training camp to get ready for the start of the 2025 season. As far away as that seems, some players on the roster are already being circled as cut candidates.

Bleacher Report's Alex Kay recently broke down the five cut candidates that should be on every NFL team's radar and included Chargers tackle Trey Pipkins. Pipkins joined a list included four other players who make sense as cut candidates, and to be fair, Pipkins himself makes sense as a cut candidate on paper.

However, while the amount of salary-cap space the Chargers can save by cutting a backup offensive lineman makes it seem like a no-brainer, the fact of the reality is that Pipkins is not going anywhere in 2025.

Trey Pipkins is not a real cut candidate for the Chargers

If the Chargers were going to cut Pipkins then it would have already happened. There is absolutely no reason why the team would keep him around to this point only to cut him right before the start of the 2025 season.

There was an inherent benefit of cutting Pipkins during the offseason. The Chargers would have saved $6.75 million in cap space, which is enough to sign one more impact player. With the calendar now in the summer months, there is absolutely no advantage in doing so.

The Chargers would still free up the same amount of cap space by cutting Pipkins but the market is completely dried up. There is nowhere to spend that additional money unless the Chargers are going to reunite with Keenan Allen, which seems impossible at this stage.

Is it a bit absurd that the Chargers are paying $9.25 million for a swing tackle? Absolutely. Pipkins has the fifth-highest cap hit on the entire team and he is not even starting. Every player with a higher cap hit on the Chargers is a Pro Bowler.

None of that makes sense, and seemingly makes Pipkins the perfect cut candidate. But this is also Jim Harbaugh's team we are talking about and if there is one thing Harbaugh values above all else it is the offensive line.

The Chargers opted against using the extra cap space the team would have obtained from cutting Pipkins on signing someone else. Whether or not that is a mistake (especially when impact players such as Poona Ford left the team) is up for debate.

Like it or hate it, Pipkins is still on the Chargers in June and he will be on the Chargers in Week 1.