Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Los Angeles Chargers

We’ve begun a series looking at free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should pursue on teams which sat out the 2017 playoffs. Next up: the Los Angeles Chargers.

The NFL offseason is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. An exciting Super Bowl ended the 2017 playoffs with a bang only a couple weeks ago, but it isn’t long until we see 2018 truly begin. Only a few weeks away is March 14, the beginning of free agency. Now is the time to figure out who is worth pursuing for and from every team in regards to the Cincinnati Bengals.

For the Stripes, we’ve already gone through the postseason contenders from this past season and who Cincinnati should look at coming off of their rosters. But now the focus is switching to the teams that sat out of the playoffs.

We’ve previously taken a look at players from the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos. Now we finish off the AFC West with a player from the Los Angeles Chargers.

Korey Toomer, LB

You probably haven’t heard much, if anything, about Korey Toomer. That isn’t surprisingly. For much of his career, he’s been on the outskirts of rosters on his best days. He picked up a single defensive snap in his first four professional seasons. He’s been on five different teams.

The past two seasons have seen Toomer become a different player, however. He’s finally managed to get involved on the field at times, picking up 250+ snaps in both 2016 and 2017. In those snaps, he’s done a pretty good job as well: Pro Football Focus Edge graded him as above average (80+) in each of the past two years.

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His time in Los Angeles may be at a close though. Health is an area of concern (he’s never been active for 16 games in a season). His role here is limited, with him unable to reach even 500 snaps in either of the past couple seasons despite there not exactly being any other consistently productive members of his unit.

Also of note: the Chargers have more time, effort, and capital invested in other linebackers already; even if Jatavis Brown, Denzel Perryman, and/or Kyle Emanuel don’t become what Toomer is now (or better), they are already current investments under contract, and (assuming health) will likely be higher in the pecking order than Toomer even if he stays.

Cincinnati would be a good place for him to head next. The team is in dire need of competent linebackers after a year from hell at the position. Their leader, Vontaze Burfict, got himself suspended to open the season because of his penchant for questionable (*cough* dirty *cough*) play. Their big free agent acquisition (Kevin Minter) struggled through injuries all season. A supposed starter (Vincent Rey) was unexpectedly supplanted by an unready second-year choice (Nick Vigil); neither would prove to be worth a roster spot — much less a starting nod.

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Toomer would have a great opportunity here. He would have a chance to come in and be what Minter was supposed to become last season: the free agent who thrives in a more open role. At 29, he’s in his athletic prime. He’s shown with the Chargers a knack for getting his hands on the ball (five pass knockdowns, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception plus a pick-six) even in a relatively low amount of snaps (744 combined over the past two seasons).

This would not be a final answer to Cincinnati’s needs at the position, but Toomer would be a low-risk, low-cost addition with upside. For a team always shopping in the free agent bargain barrel (when they shop at all), you can’t beat that.