The Los Angeles Chargers landed guard Trai Turner in a trade, sending Russell Okung to Carolina in return, leaving the Bolts as the clear winners.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles Chargers general manager Tom Telesco made a move he’s not particularly accustomed to. For the first time since the low-risk move to acquire Cardale Jones, the Chargers traded for a player. In this instance, however, the player coming to the Bolts likely will have a bigger impact than Jones did as it’s offensive guard Trai Turner.
The Chargers and Carolina Panthers agreed to a deal that will send the 26-year-old guard to Los Angeles in exchange for veteran offensive tackle Russell Okung, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. A trade can’t be made official until the new league year begins on March 18 but, as of now, the deal has been agreed to by both parties.
When on the field, Okung has been effective for the Chargers. However, his availability has been an issue and, at 32 years old, it’s fair to be wary that his best days in the NFL are behind him. Furthermore, Los Angeles had needs essentially along the entire offensive line. So they moved on from the veteran to make an aggressive move at improving.
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In Turner, the Chargers are getting one of the premier offensive guards in the league. Though Turner may not steal headlines — guards rarely do — he’s a five-time Pro Bowler for good reason and with merit. He immediately becomes the best player on Los Angeles’ offensive line.
Considering that the Chargers not only get the better player but also get Turner for the next two seasons on his current contract while Okung’s deal expires after the 2020 season, it’s hard not to see LA as the clear winner of the trade, especially as they save some $3.5 million this year as well.
Sure, the Bolts have plenty of work left ahead to fix the offensive line as a whole. Losing Okung makes offensive tackle a primary need in free agency or the NFL Draft. Having said that, they took a potential question mark in Okung and turned it into an immediate strength with Turner now slotting into one of the guard spots.
Landing Turner and shoring up that spot also frees up the Chargers to potentially take a quarterback with the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which has been what many project them to do this offseason. Now that one major need has been crossed off, they can be a bit more aggressive in addressing the hole under center.
Frankly, this was a deal that the Chargers would’ve been foolish to not make. But now that the trade has been agreed to, it’s clear they made the right move and, frankly, got the better of the Panthers in the deal.