At the opening of the NFL free agency, the Los Angeles Charger started out slow and it felt like they were content with letting other teams duke it out. However, they finally entered the party and made a flurry of moves in just a few short hours.
The Chargers roster is peppered with talent, but there are also some major holes to fill on the roster. With the release of running back Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins on the open market, they were very thin at this position. There was speculation that Los Angeles was willing to bring Dobbins back, but that plan went right out the window Monday night.
It was reported earlier that the Chargers were a team in play for Harris’ services, and clearly the two sides moved swiftly to strike a deal.
Adam Schefter of ESPN announced that the two sides have agreed to a deal for the first-round pick to become the new starting running back. It is a one-year deal worth $9.25 million, which is relatively cheap for the recently reset running back market.
Dobbins performed well in Los Angeles last season, but the Chargers likely felt that he was too injury prone to move forward with. The former Ravens running back missed four games last year and suffered season-ending injuries the two seasons prior to that.
While Harris isn’t elite by any stretch, he’s consistent and durable, which is something the Chargers have been searching far and wide for since Ladanian Tomlinson left nearly two decades ago. He is a hardnosed, between-the-tackles runner like Dobbins, who should be able to thrive behind a significantly better offensive line than he worked with in Pittsburgh.
Los Angeles is quietly putting together a solid free agent class. The most impressive part is that they’ve done it by sticking to their philosophy, which is to seek high value players who have the potential to outplay their contract. There are still an endless number of players left, and the Chargers have a seemingly unlimited supply of money, so it’s hard to imagine they are even close to being done making moves.
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