Denzel Perryman, who has spent 8 of his 11 NFL seasons with the Chargers (first in San Diego, then in Los Angeles), might not be back with the team in 2026.

Perryman showed himself to be very good against the run this season, but his limitations in coverage did seem to hinder the Chargers defense when he played. He missed time early in the season with an injury and missed the last two games of the season after being suspended by the league for violations of safety rules.

That being said, the Chargers were 8-2 in the games that Perryman played in 2026. That means they went 3-4 in the seven regular season games that he missed. 

All of this needs to be added together while the Chargers consider what type of offer, if any, they want to make to Denzel Perryman this offseason as he again enters into unrestricted free agency.

Denzel Perryman made about $2.6 million in 2025. Whether or not you think that ended up being worth the 10 games that the Chargers got from him, Perryman's value at 33-years old isn't going up. 

If Perryman comes back to the Chargers, it will be at a price tag small enough that it doesn't guarantee him any sort of starting role or large snap share.

Perryman played less than half (29%) of the defensive snaps for the Chargers in 2025, mostly being taken off the field in passing situations. As noted above, he was quite good at run defense but could be a bit of a target in pass coverage (and finished the season with zero sacks).

The team was already splitting time at that LB spot between Perryman and Troy Dye, who was a bit more active in the Chargers pass rush when on the field. Daiyan Henley, playing the other LB spot, was on the field for more than 90% of snaps and likely will be again in 2026.

There's probably a decent argument for giving Troy Dye (46%) a larger snap share, but I like what I saw from rookie LB Marlowe Wax against the run and think that he could fit right into the role behind by Perryman. He also fared a little better than both Perryman and Dye in limited snaps dropping back in pass coverage.

Wax played on about 3% of defensive plays for the Chargers in 2025, and on about 73% of special teams plays, but he got a shot in that Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos (playing on 66% of defensive snaps as well as 96% of special teams snaps) and finished the game with 7 tackles, including one tackle-for-loss.

Wax is probably a long-shot, and maybe not someone with enough of a track record to bet on, but I'm not sure I would count on Perryman/Dye being able to sufficiently combo the position in 2026.