Chargers GM Tom Telesco Reflects on Busy Offseason and Outlook of 2022 Campaign

Tom Telesco speaks about the Chargers' offseason and how things stack up with Week 1 around the corner.

COSTA MESA – General manager Tom Telesco put together his most aggressive offseason of his Chargers' tenure. With quarterback Justin Herbert leading the offense to a top five finish across many statical categories last year, Telesco's focus this offseason was to upgrade the defense in hope of being a more complete team.

The Chargers held $56.3 million in cap space ahead of free agency, the second-most in the NFL. With cash at their disposal, the Chargers hit the ground running, pulling off a blockbuster trade to acquire pass rusher Khalil Mack, followed by the signings of cornerback J.C. Jackson, defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day, linebacker Kyle Van Noy and others.

Now six months removed from the bulk of their team-building, and training camp in the rearview, the Chargers' roster is taking shape. Specifically, they should benefit greatly in 2022 from three new projected starters to pencil in across the defensive line. After finishing last year 30th in the NFL in stopping the run, the new additions look poised to uplift their run defense.

"You don't really know what you have until we start playing," Chargers general manager Tom Telesco said Monday. "You can only see so much in practice."

While Telesco is encouraged with how the roster is shaking out, he remains even-keeled until they hit the field for games that count against their record.

Telesco's wait-and-see approach comes despite the enhanced expectations that have been thrown on the team following the busy offseason of moves. The Chargers hold the sixth-best odds to win the Super Bowl this season and the third-best among AFC teams, per SI Sportsbook.

"I hate hearing you look good on paper," Telesco said. "You don't really know until you get into September where you really are. But the roster is never set. You're constantly thinking about it or moving things around."

There's no disputing the upgrades to the roster set up the Chargers to have a legitimate shot at winning the AFC West and making a playoff run. But with the moves from their divisional opponents also making noise league-wide, it won't be an easy road.

"Every team thinks they're a lot better right now," Telesco said. "Every team thinks they're going to playoffs. Every team I've ever been on. Even in my last year with the Colts, we had a rookie quarterback, although he was pretty good, but our team was completely changed. We still felt like we had a playoff team."

Telesco is a believer that it takes about four to five weeks into the season until NFL teams truly know what they are. For now, the only measuring stick they have to go off of is training camp practices, preseason games and the two-day joint practice effort they held with the Dallas Cowboys.

"I thought we performed really well those two days with the Cowboys," Telesco said. "Much better than that preseason game looked. Now, there was some different players playing in both of those [practices], but still. I thought that was encouraging because Dallas, I think, is going to be pretty good. But again, you're looking at 60 or 70 snaps."

Telesco, when asked Monday if he felt this was the Chargers' window to win, stated that he doesn't view things in the form of windows. For him, the expectation of winning remains the goal each year, he says.

"There's windows every year. You just have to build the team differently based on where the reality is of where your team is," Telesco said. "When Philip Rivers was here, he had a big contract. We had to build the team differently. When I was with the Colts, Peyton Manning all those years, we had to build it a certain way. One year that Andrew Luck was there with a rookie contract, you build it a different way."

The Chargers spent north of $280 million on contracts the last six months. From the new additions via trade and free agency, to the money spent on in-house players such as wide receiver Mike Williams and safety Derwin James, the aggressive nature that Telesco has assembled the team with has ultimately led to a stronger belief that wining is presumably on the horizon.

"Every year is a different year, and every year the expectations are the same," Telesco said. "It's a pressurized job no matter what. I wouldn’t call it any extra this year. I want to win every single year."

The Chargers will begin the start of their 2022 season on Sunday when they host the team who ended their season last year, the Las Vegas Raiders. 

It's critical the Chargers begin the year fast as they'll take flight to Kansas City ahead of their Week 2 Thursday Night Football matchup with the Chiefs just four days after playing the Raiders, going head-to-head with two AFC West opponents to open up the year.

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Nick Cothrel is the publisher of Charger Report. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel for more Chargers coverage.