Chargers' Poona Ford just dropped more proof he needs to be free agent priority

Chris Roling | 2 Hours Ago

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers found several gems during the soft rebuild under the direction of new general manager Joe Hortiz and head coach Jim Harbaugh this past offseason.

Defensive lineman Poona Ford, though, tops the list with ease.

Playing on a paltry one-year deal, Ford has been a revelation in the heart of the Chargers defense, turning in a stellar season while being one of the main reasons the elite defense can perform so well.

The Week 15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a good example of this, at least on an individual level for Ford. There, he was the team’s outright highest-graded player on the day, checking in with a 79.5 grade at Pro Football Focus.

Now that Ford has been a culture and schematic fit for the Chargers, it’s clear the team needs to wrap him up for the long term this offseason. With a projected roughly $75 million in free cap space before any other cap-saving moves next offseason, doing so shouldn’t be a major issue.

As a bonus, doing so would free up draft assets to go toward surrounding Justin Herbert with as many high-end weapons and interior offensive linemen as possible.

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