NFL Expert Believes Chargers Division-Rival Made 2 Horrible Offseason Moves

The L's keep on coming for the Broncos

Your Los Angeles Chargers haven't made any sexy moves this off-season. On the other hand, they haven't had any major losses this off-season. That could all change with the Austin Ekeler drama, but hopefully, they can retain the star running back. 

Nonetheless, teams around the league have made changes for the better or worse, including the Chargers' division rival Denver Broncos. After a disastrous 2022 season, the Broncos will look to compete and finally have a winning record for the first time since 2016. The Broncos believe they made some moves to get back to contention. Still, Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine has the Broncos in his list of the five worst moves of the 2023 NFL off-season thus far, and they appear twice in this list. 

Ballentine believes Denver shouldn't have traded for head coach Sean Payton. 

Payton was the most accomplished head coach available, but the Broncos paid a steep price. Because Payton was still under contract with the Saints, they had to trade a first-round pick this season (No. 29 overall) and a 2024 second-round pick for Payton and a 2024 third-round pick.

Peter King

of NBC Sports reported Payton's Broncos contract is for five years and worth around $18 million per year. That doesn't count toward the salary cap, so they don't get dinged for that, but it's a huge investment for a coach who doesn't guarantee success.

Payton is a good coach. He's won a Super Bowl and boasts a 161–97 record for his career. But there are a lot of disappointing Saints seasons mixed in there with a prime Drew Brees. For instance, the Saints went 7-9 for three consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2016.

With a year off to recharge, Payton could be just what the Broncos need. But there's also a chance that Russell Wilson is cooked and there's a rebuild right around the corner.

If that's the case, they just gave up precious draft capital for a head coach who is more suited for a readymade team to contend.

Ouch. Now I still believe in Payton, but if this doesn't work out, the Broncos could regret it. Denver gave up a lot for the Super Bowl-winning coach, so we'll see how it plays out. 

Another move Ballentine isn't a fan of is the Broncos overpaying for offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey. 

There's no doubt that Russell Wilson has a better chance of returning to form with better protection in front of him, but it's not like McGlinchey guarantees that. The 28-year-old ranked 35th among all tackles on PFF last season and gave up six sacks while drawing 10 penalties.McGlinchey's success has come in a San Francisco offense that is offensive-line friendly. There's a heavy reliance on the zone run game, play action and rollouts, all of which protect tackles from having to take true pass sets or displace defenders in the run game.

McGlinchey left a run-heavy offense for a team whose identity we have yet to learn. Nonetheless, the 28-year-old will still make $87.5 million over five years. Whether he lives up to his contract is unknown; only time will tell. PFF graded a 71.5 overall while only allowing six sacks and ten penalties for the 49ers. 

For the Broncos to account for 40% of the top five is quite astonishing. This could hold to be accurate, or we could all laugh back at this list with still so much time left in the off-season.