The Los Angeles Chargers approached the 2026 NFL trade deadline with a shocking lack of willingness to engage in trade talks. They finally changed their tune at the 11th hour and were willing to discuss some of their players on expiring contracts.

The Chargers may have hurt themselves with how they approached the deadline and appeared to be in denial of how bad the season was going. There is an argument to why the Chargers may have chosen to be less active at the trade deadline given their lack of true valuable trade assets.

When the dust settled from the trade deadline, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz did make one move and adjusted the franchise's public plan of standing pat and not moving on from any players. Los Angeles traded starting linebacker Daiyan Henley within the division to the Denver Broncos.

Trading away Henley was one of the top trade assets the Chargers had on the roster alongside veteran edge rusher Khalil Mack. The Chargers found a market for Henley and satisfactory offers came in. There have been reported offers for several other players on the roster, including Mack, but their low value kept the deals from coming to fruition.

Let's examine and grade the deal for Henley and the lack of deals from the trade deadline.

Daiyan Henley traded to division rival Denver

Grade: B+
The Chargers waited until the final hours before the trade deadline to make their first and only move. Moving on from former third-round draft pick and local Los Angeles product Daiyan Henley was not an easy move to make.

Henley has all the talent to be a top-tier linebacker and appeared on his way to achieving that ceiling by the end of the 2024 season. For several reasons, including several outside of Henley's control, he has struggled with consistency since the start of the 2025 season. Henley entering 2026 on the final year of his rookie contract and with his inconsistencies, an offseason extension would have been difficult to navigate.

Henley is also known for his energy and leadership on defense. Being a local with significant ties to the community makes the departure more difficult. The move may be best for Henley's long term career as he can get a fresh start away from his hometown and some of the heavy baggage following him around LA.

The Denver Broncos gave up a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick for Henley. For a player under contract only through the remainder of the 2026 season, that is significant value. The closest comparable trade was in 2024 when the Tennessee Titans traded linebacker Ernest Jones IV to the Seattle Seahawks. Both Jones and Henley were third-round picks in the final year of their rookie contract. Jones was sent to the Seahawks for backup linebacker Jerome Baker and a 2025 fourth-round pick.

The trade makes clear room for the Chargers to give young linebacker Marlowe Wax more playing time down the stretch as they determine how the room will be built in 2027. The 2027 draft class is shaping up to be a very deep class of linebackers. Overall the trade is well-rounded on both sides and the Chargers got the best value they could have for a homegrown player.

Not dealing Khalil Mack

Grade: B-
The Chargers may have been in denial of how their season was going but if they were going to trade Khalil Mack, the best destination would have been to the Chicago Bears before the Bears made a blockbuster deal to acquire Jeffery Simmons. The amount of capital the Bears gave up for Simmons likely left little on the table to make a move for Mack.

Mack will surely be immortalized in the Hall of Fame when he decides to hang up his cleats. Players of his caliber and with his resume have earned the right to choose their path. By all accounts, Mack wanted to stay in Los Angeles, likely for his family. If the Chargers had an offer for a fourth-round pick, the discussion likely would have been different, but by waiting and standing pat in hopes of turning their season around, that ship sailed.

The value of late-round picks has greatly diminished in the NIL era. Sixth- and seventh-round picks are widely viewed as near throwaway picks with the caliber of players available in that range down from years prior with so many underclassmen staying in school. The Chargers, according to Steven Haglund of the Guilty as Charged Podcast, who has worked with the Chargers in the past, had a sixth-round offer from the San Francisco 49ers for Mack.

Per sources, the 49ers maintained contact with the Chargers throughout the trade deadline process about a potential deal for Khalil Mack but never offered more than a 6th round pick. The Chargers obviously never budged on their desire to keep the future HOFer around. https://t.co/fOqg4c90lr

— Steven Haglund (@StevenIHaglund) November 10, 2026

Is going against a legendary player and his direct wish to stay all for the chance of adding a UDFA level rookie next year worth the effort? No, for a franchise with a checkered past in dealing with top tier veterans, it would have been a bad look and not helpful.

Lack of moves elsewhere

Grade: C
The Chargers still have to field a team for the remainder of 2026 and can only trade away so many players with the amount of injuries they have suffered. The Chargers may have had offers for seventh-round picks for a handful of their veteran players. As we have seen on the offensive line, when players who are not at least replacement level are on the field, injury risk goes up for the rest of the players around them.

Is a seventh-round pick or two worth the downstream damage a veteran's absence could create? Likely not. The Chargers have been playing awful football and were not going to have good offers for many of their players.

Did the franchise wait too long to engage in trade discussions? More than likely. They may have missed on opportunities to gain extra capital. It is clear though, unlike other teams around the league like the Colts who had top-tier assets that could net strong draft capital in return, the Chargers do not have a Quenton Nelson or Jonathan Taylor on the roster.

As frustrating as it is to watch the process or lack of process, the simple fact remains, the Chargers have been playing terribly, suffered significant injuries and were not going to get top compensation back. And no, trading franchise quarterback Justin Herbert would never have been an option.