The LA Chargers have been relatively quiet this offseason, especially when compared to other teams with significant cap space and a real shot at competing for a Super Bowl in 2025. While they’ve made several moves, they’ve all been smaller adjustments without any major, headline-grabbing trades.
However, the foundation is in place for the Chargers to make a blockbuster trade if they choose to pursue one. They still have enough cap space to execute a big deal, both for the 2025 season and beyond.
While big trades can be thrilling, they also carry risks and can backfire depending on the player involved. Pro Football Focus suggests the Chargers should take a chance on someone who might end up being more harmful than helpful: Tyreek Hill.
Mason Cameron of PFF proposed that the Chargers could trade for Hill, linking four star veterans to four different teams. This idea isn’t entirely new, as there has been prior speculation about Hill joining the Chargers.
Despite posting the lowest PFF receiving grade (77.3) of his career in 2024, Hill remains one of the NFL’s most explosive players. Over the last three seasons, he has ranked in the 92nd percentile in receiving grade and the 99th percentile in yards per route run. Cameron argues that with Hill paired alongside Ladd McConkey, the Chargers’ receiving corps could become a formidable group with Justin Herbert at the helm.
Chargers trading for Tyreek Hill would be disastrous
While Cameron makes a compelling case for Tyreek Hill based on his impressive numbers over the last three seasons, those stats are largely driven by his production in the previous two years, not 2024. It’s not to say Hill had a poor 2024 season, but he certainly wasn’t the same dominant force on the field as he has been in past years.
When you focus on the yards-per-route-run stat, Hill’s performance looks much less impressive in the short term. He ranked 35th in yards per route run out of 110 receivers who ran at least 201 routes last season. To put that in perspective, Quentin Johnston ranked 30th.
This isn’t to say that Johnston is a better receiver than Hill — far from it — but it does underscore the fact that Hill is likely past his prime. Trading for Hill would be an example of the Chargers paying a premium for a player based on past performance, something this front office usually avoids.
While the draft cost for Hill might not be high due to his contract situation, that same contract should raise red flags for the Chargers. Hill still has two years left on his deal, with several void years. His cap hits for 2025 and 2026 are massive, with $27.69 million in 2025 and $51.89 million in 2026.
It seems unlikely the Chargers would commit that kind of money to a receiver on the downside of his career, especially given the regression Hill has shown. Even though the Chargers have cap space, paying a 32-year-old Hill $51.89 million in 2026 is not how you build a sustainable, competitive team.
Instead, the Chargers could turn to Keenan Allen, who is available for much less and can still provide a significant impact as a complementary receiver. Allen’s yards per route run is comparable to that of Hill’s teammate, Jaylen Waddle.
Spending $8-10 million a year on Allen is far more manageable than committing a total of $79 million to Hill over the next two seasons.
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