Los Angeles Chargers: Brandon Marshall worth the risk at the right price
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Chargers are going to need linebacker help next season and might have a great fit available in former Bronco, Brandon Marshall.
The Los Angeles Chargers had one of the most exciting defenses to watch last season. Los Angeles boasted a terrifying pass rush combination of Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa that constantly terrorized quarterbacks, when healthy.
While those two were rushing the quarterback the secondary would be locking down the playmakers. The Chargers had two All-Pros in the secondary in Derwin James and Desmond King and a special teams All-Pro in Adrian Phillips in the defense.
Phillips is naturally a safety but plays more of linebacker for the Chargers in the defense; he is like Derwin James and is a Swiss Army Knife.
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However, after a career year, Phillips is a free agent and might get a pretty penny from another team that wants to improve the special teams unit as well as add a versatile player on the defense.
The Chargers already should be looking to replace Phillips.
There is another player, Denzel Perryman, that the Chargers should be looking to replace as well. Perryman has gotten hurt the last two years but has made an impact while he is on the field.
Perryman is not the most exciting player or the best linebacker in the game. However, the Los Angeles Chargers are 12-4 over the last two seasons when Perryman plays and are 9-7 when he doesn’t.
With both of those guys potentially finding a new home, the Los Angeles Chargers should be looking at linebacker help. Even if they both stay, it would not hurt to bolster the linebacker core, which was probably the weakest point of the defense last season.
Los Angeles potentially has a new target to consider from a division rival. Brandon Marshall is definitely familiar with the Los Angeles Chargers as a member of the Denver Broncos and will most likely be a free agent soon.
Marshall has a club option this offseason that the Broncos likely won’t exercise, per ESPN.
Should the Chargers be interested? Absolutely. Marshall has been a part of one of the league’s best defenses over the last five years and is still only 29 years old.
The one risk with Marshall, like Perryman, is his health. Marshall missed five games last season and only started seven and missed seven games in 2016.
However, he did play a full season in 2017 and was pretty productive. The linebacker recorded 106 combined tackles, three sacks, four pass deflections and a forced fumble.
The Los Angeles Chargers do not need a world-beating All-Pro at linebacker. The team just needs a guy that is above league average. Playing in this defense will make Marshall better and he should get plenty of action in the middle of the field with the secondary locked down.
Since the Chargers do not need an All-Pro, they should not spend All-Pro money. Zach Brown signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Washington Redskins prior to the 2018 season and was as about the same level as Marshall is right now.
With the injuries in mind, I would not offer Marshall more than three years for $18 million.
Next. The Chargers perfect DT to draft in round one. dark
If he takes it then awesome, the Chargers get an extremely valuable linebacker for a relatively good price. If he wants money similar to Brown’s, well, time to target a linebacker in the 2019 NFL Draft.