4 teams that should sign Adrian Peterson if he’s a training camp casualty
3. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers drew their line in the sand with Melvin Gordon when he held out last year, so it was no surprise he exited in free agency with no resistance. They backed up their commitment to Austin Ekeler as their No. 1 back by giving him a nice contract, but behind him is Justin Jackson, rookie Joshua Kelley and Troymaine Pope. Professions of faith in that depth are obvious and expected.
#Chargers OC Shane Steichen says the offense will feature more than just two running backs as in past season.
— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) April 29, 2020
"All three of those guys are going to share the load. They all bring something unique."
The Chargers should be running the ball more this year, after coming in with the fifth-fewest attempts last year (22.9 per game). They’ll almost certainly be more competitive in games, and the offense will naturally shift that way with Tyrod Taylor replacing Philip Rivers. Ekeler has shown himself to be a prolific pass catcher, but there will be questions about his ability to take on a more traditionally large workload until he proves otherwise.
Peterson won’t command much on the open market if he’s cut. But the Chargers have plenty of cap space ($20.92 million) to make an offer he shouldn’t refuse, if they want to. If healthy and as productive as he has been over the last two seasons, Peterson would be a perfect complement to Ekeler.