The Los Angeles Chargers should be hosts of the NFL’s biggest fire sale at the trade deadline. 

Khalil Mack should go. So should plenty of others. Tuli Tuipulotu should not. Neither should Justin Herbert, obviously. 

One of those plenty of others, though, is wide receiver Quentin Johnston. 

After all, Johnston is the embattled former first-round pick who has struggled with drops since entering the NFL. There was a brief thought that the arrival of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel would mean the Chargers replace him with more speed and reliability. 

The Chargers instead responded by picking up Johnston’s fifth-year option. 

Calling it a mistake would be an understatement. 

Quentin Johnston contract hurts Chargers at trade deadline

When the Chargers picked up Johnston’s fifth-year option, it was pretty obvious general manager Joe Hortiz was on the hunt for a “deal.” So it goes for an organization that still has nearly $30 million in free cap space right now and had nearly $100 million before free agency. They’re 0-7 for a reason, folks. 

Some deal, too. 

Herbert’s turning in the worst year of his career and Johnston still looks like Johnston, having caught just 12 of his 25 targets for 202 yards and no scores. 

On paper, a former first-round pick who is still just 25 years old should have some appeal to other teams at the deadline. But there’s the matter of that pesky contract. 

The Athletic’s Noah Furtado put it best: “Is there a team willing to eat $18 million in 2027 for an X wideout known for shaky production who comes down with fewer jump balls than he should and has unreliable hands to boot? Any deal that gets the Chargers a draft pick makes sense … for the Chargers."

That $18 million is fully guaranteed. Another team could go get a veteran or make a trade at a fraction of that cap hit right now. 

Barring a shocker, this is another delayed decision by the Chargers to move on later than they should. Guys hanging on for a few more years than necessary, like Bradley Bozeman, continue to cripple the team’s chances. 

Now, since they’ve dragged feet on moving on from Johnston, it’s hard to say if Mike McDaniel will be around next offseason. Which makes it hard to say if Johnston will even fit the next coordinator’s scheme. 

No matter what happens there, the Chargers are stuck because they wanted a bargain. No team is going to swoop in and pay up a draft pick for him at the deadline while absorbing that contract for fun, too.