The Chargers Need to Trade Justin Herbert...

The Chargers Need to Trade Justin Herbert…

The Los Angeles Chargers came into 2026 talking about a Super Bowl run. Halfway through the season, they haven’t won a game. Their 0-7 start has put them in the record books for the wrong reasons, and the offense built around Justin Herbert has been the biggest letdown. It’s time for the front office to ask a hard question: is Herbert still the quarterback who takes this franchise where it wants to go? The case for trading him this offseason rests on three things: a coaching change that looks likely, a contract that gets more expensive every year, and a draft pick high enough to start over at quarterback.

Herbert’s arm talent has never been in doubt, but the results have stopped matching it. He is still looking for his first playoff win after losing in the wild-card round again in January, this time 16-3 to New England, which made him 0-3 in the postseason. This fall has been worse. PFF found he has the league’s highest rate of turnover-worthy plays, and he has gone nine straight starts without throwing more than one touchdown, a drought only Ryan Leaf has topped in team history. One AFC executive told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Herbert looks uncomfortable in the offense and keeps throwing into defenders he doesn’t see. To be fair, a beat-up offensive line and a thin group of receivers have not helped him. But after six seasons, the Chargers need to ask whether things will ever click.

The coaching situation makes it even messier. Jim Harbaugh brought in Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator in January after firing Greg Roman, and McDaniel was supposed to finally unlock Herbert. Instead, the Chargers were last in the league in scoring at 15 points per game after six weeks, and McDaniel has moved up to the booth to call plays to try to fix it. Harbaugh has publicly stood by him so far, but Bleacher Report rated his seat as about as hot as it gets and doubted he lasts past the start of the 2027 offseason without a turnaround. If McDaniel goes, Herbert would be on his sixth offensive coordinator since he was drafted in 2020. At some point, the problem can’t keep being the play caller.

Then there’s the money. Herbert signed a five-year, $262.5 million extension in 2023 that runs through 2029, and the cap hits keep climbing: about $58.3 million in 2027 and $71.1 million in 2028. A trade wouldn’t be free. Los Angeles would eat roughly $50.4 million in dead cap in 2027, and Herbert has a full no-trade clause, so he would have to sign off on any deal. Still, swallowing that hit for one year is better than paying $70 million-plus to a quarterback who isn’t winning. The interest is already out there, too: CBS Sports reported back in 2024 that the Patriots and Vikings both called about him, and league chatter about his future in L.A. has picked up this fall. A 28-year-old with his physical tools would still bring back a big package of picks.

The timing could not line up better. At 0-7, the Chargers are on track for a top-five pick, and the 2027 class could have a franchise quarterback at the top. Texas star Arch Manning skipped the 2026 draft and opened as the betting favorite to go first overall in 2027. He isn’t a lock to come out, though: Steve Sarkisian has said he wouldn’t be shocked if Manning stays another year, and Manning has until the mid-January declaration deadline to decide. Even if he stays, the class is expected to be deep at quarterback. Picture the Chargers adding a Herbert trade haul to their own top-five pick. That gives them a cheap rookie quarterback for five years, plus extra picks and cap space to fix the offensive line and receivers.

Trading a quarterback this talented is never easy, and Harbaugh has kept defending Herbert in public. But the Chargers have tried five offensive coordinators, a big contract and a proven head coach in Harbaugh, and they still have zero playoff wins with him under center. With McDaniel likely on his way out, Herbert’s cap number about to jump, and a top-five pick in hand, this offseason is the cleanest chance the team will get to reset. A fresh start might be the best thing for both sides. Herbert gets a new home without six years of baggage, and the Chargers get to build around a young quarterback on a rookie deal.