I suppose it's not strange, considering they just made the NFL Playoffs, but I've been looking around at if there are any real free agent targets that I think the Los Angeles Chargers should be pursuing this offseason and there are not a lot of names that stand out (yet).

One name, which stands out for reasons beyond just fit, is Deebo Samuel. I'm not exactly sure where I come down on if the Chargers should target him or not, so I'm going to flesh out both sides of the argument and see if anything shakes out.

Deebo Samuel's one and only season where he made the All-Pro team and the Pro Bowl was 2021, and his story was directly tied to that of Mike McDaniel.

As the run game coordinator in 2019 and 2020, McDaniel found ways to get the ball into Samuel's hands as a running back when possible. After taking over as offensive coordinator in 2021, Samuel was spending about 33% of snaps as the 49ers RB and the rest as a dominant WR. This type of outside-the-box thinking led to McDaniel getting head coaching interviews and, eventually, the Dolphins' head coaching job.

In Miami, McDaniel didn't have a Deebo. It's important to note that part of McDaniel's plan working out in San Francisco was because he had Deebo Samuel, a unicorn of a football player. McDaniel, instead, built his offense around a different kind of unicorn in Tyreek Hill.

The argument for signing Deebo Samuel is that he had his most success with McDaniel scheming him into opportune situations. He's also been an incredibly reliable WR and even found ways to be productive in a nightmare situation in Washington last season.

I'm not entirely sure how much he would cost since it's difficult to find a comp for him, but it's worth a conversation.

Deebo Samuel would probably walk right into the spot abandoned by Keenan Allen. He'd immediately take the role of the veteran in the locker room, reliable third down threat and someone that needs to play the slot because of a lack of downfield speed.

There's two other options here, with one of them being the team simply signing back Keenan Allen (likely for a lot less than what Deebo will cost). Another one would be to sign neither of them so that Ladd McConkey can have ownership of the slot position in the offense, an issue that some feel contributed to his down sophomore season.

With signing Deebo being probably the most expensive of those three options, I think I might save the cap space for use elsewhere on the roster.