Chargers News: Pundit Projects Best Free Agent Fit For LA

The Bolts' roster will look quite different next season.

Your Los Angeles Chargers still need to figure out who their permanent top front office decision maker is, heading into the 2024 offseason.

When free agency hits, Gordon McGuinness of Pro Football Focus believes veteran Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie would be an ideal cure for what ails the club. 

It certainly makes sense that the Bolts need to prioritize their defense, as the team has been especially poor on that end of the field, despite ex-head coach Brandon Staley supposedly being a mastermind on defense.

"The Chargers need to get better in the secondary in 2024," McGuinness writes. "Awuzie is a more-than-capable coverage player who has just one season with a PFF coverage grade below 60.0 and is coming off a year during which he allowed just 38 receptions from 446 coverage snaps."

Given that Los Angeles finished at a paltry 5-12 on the year overall, it would seem that the team has holes everywhere. But the focus on defense makes sense to yours truly.

Awuzie, 28, was a two-time All-Pac-12 Second Teamer while with Colorado from 2013-16. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 60 pick in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft. The six-footer inked a three-contract with the Cincinnati Bengals ahead of the 2021 season, making a Super Bowl appearance that year. He's now a free agent. An ACL tear midway through the 2022 season and a herniated disc in 2023 limited his availability and efficacy for Cincinnati.