The Las Vegas Raiders, by almost every measure, had an incredibly successful first offseason with general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll in charge. These two are massive upgrades themselves, but Geno Smith also provides an improvement at the game's most important position.
Unfortunately, the Raiders have a lot of ground to make up in the AFC West, as each of their division rivals made the playoffs in 2024. The Chiefs will be kings until dethroned, and both the Chargers and Broncos showed signs of being legitimate teams for years to come.
This offseason, however, none of these three teams improved as much as Las Vegas did. In fact, the Chargers in particular may see one of their big free agent signings blow up in their face before the 2025 NFL season even begins.
Chargers could look to trade RB Najee Harris before season
During free agency, the Chargers did not re-sign Gus Edwards or J.K. Dobbins, which meant that they were starting from scratch in their running back room. They signed former Steelers standout Najee Harris to fill the void, but according to Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox, Harris may already be on the trade block.
"The Los Angeles Chargers signed running back Najee Harris to a one-year, $5.25 million deal in free agency, and they may not be looking to move him before he even takes a snap," Knox wrote. "Head coach Jim Harbaugh loves to lean on the ground game, and he'd probably rather have too much backfield depth than too little. That said, Harris is on a one-year deal and may not be viewed as a long-term piece for L.A. The Chargers also drafted Omarion Hampton with the No. 22 overall pick in April, and the North Carolina product might walk into an every-down role."
If the Chargers did look to shop Harris before the season started, it would be one of the biggest free agency failures in recent memory. Raider Nation would have no issue giving this title to their division rival, but it seems unlikely that Harris is actually on the trade block.
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As Knox mentioned, Harbaugh is a strong proponent of the run game, and he brought in both Dobbins and Edwards last season to be a one-two punch. It is reasonable to think that a similar approach will be utilized with Hampton and Harris, but nothing is impossible.
After last year's playoff loss to the Houston Texans, it became clear that the Chargers needed to add more pass-catchers outside of Ladd McConkey because the offense was becoming one-dimensional. It was a shock then when the Chargers chose Hampton in the first round of the draft.
Perhaps they just went with who they felt was the best player available, or maybe this selection signaled something about their intentions with Harris. It was certainly a peculiar choice to select Hampton so early when they signed Harris earlier in the offseason, especially considering the draft class was deep at the running back position.
Harris is a solid back, and nothing more. He certainly does not strike fear in the Raiders or their fan base like Ashton Jeanty does in theirs. However, if the Chargers moved Harris before the season began, it would be both a stain on their offseason and something for the Silver and Black to celebrate.