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The Chargers officially have five offensive linemen on non-futures contracts, signing former Dolphins lineman Cole Strange to a 2-year, $13 million deal late Monday afternoon to punctuate their first day of moves. $9 million of the deal is guaranteed after Strange started 14 games for now-Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and offensive line coach Butch Barry in Miami last season.
A former first-round pick of the Patriots, Strange was signed to the Browns practice squad before being poached by the Dolphins after James Daniels was placed on injured reserve. He took over the starting right guard job in Week 4 and never looked back, allowing 21 pressures in 435 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
With so few offensive linemen on the roster, Strange currently slots in as the starter at right guard with Rashawn Slater, Trevor Penning, Tyler Biadasz, and Joe Alt joining him along the front line. The Chargers also have Ben Cleveland, Branson Taylor, and Josh Kaltenberger on futures deals.
The money doesn't suggest that of a guaranteed starter, however. Strange's $6.5 million average per year is the 30th-highest in the league, just behind Buccaneers guard Ben Bredeson at $7.33 million and ahead of Rams guard Coleman Shelton at $6 million, although Shelton was paid as a center. Bredeson and TJ Bass, the next guard after Shelton, both played a decent amount in 2025, although they were both on teams that struggled with injuries on the offensive line.
Maybe the Chargers hand Strange the right guard job and look for more competition at left guard, where they re-signed Penning for $4.5 million over one year. But with $66.8 million of remaining cap space per OverTheCap as of Monday evening - third-most in the NFL - and plenty of guards either still on the market or about to hit the market, the Strange signing feels more like a high-end backup to guard against the sort of catastrophic health LA suffered a season ago on the offensive line.
Strange can also play center - where he logged 117 snaps for the Patriots in 2024 - or either guard spot, so he'd essentially step in as their first offensive lineman off the bench if any of their interior three go down.
Packers interior offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins will be released by Wednesday, per multiple reports, and could be a fit at left guard due to his familiarity with the offensive scheme and with Barry, who was a senior analyst with the Packers in 2020. Browns guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller are still available, as are Dylan Parham (Raiders) and Chris Paul (Commanders). All of those signings come with their own risks, but they would be upgrades over what the Chargers currently have, even with Monday's moves.
In the draft, Strange's contract suggests that the Chargers may draft a Day 2 or 3 player to compete with him during training camp for the right guard job. A prospect like Georgia Tech's Keylan Rutledge would make sense in the third round after being asked to snap at the NFL Combine earlier this month. Notre Dame guard Billy Schrauth, Iowa guard Beau Stephens, or Washington's Carver Willis would be early Day 3 targets who could push Strange for a starting spot as well.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Chargers OL depth chart: How Cole Strange fits, affects draft plans
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A former first-round pick of the Patriots, Strange was signed to the Browns practice squad before being poached by the Dolphins after James Daniels was placed on injured reserve. He took over the starting right guard job in Week 4 and never looked back, allowing 21 pressures in 435 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
With so few offensive linemen on the roster, Strange currently slots in as the starter at right guard with Rashawn Slater, Trevor Penning, Tyler Biadasz, and Joe Alt joining him along the front line. The Chargers also have Ben Cleveland, Branson Taylor, and Josh Kaltenberger on futures deals.
The money doesn't suggest that of a guaranteed starter, however. Strange's $6.5 million average per year is the 30th-highest in the league, just behind Buccaneers guard Ben Bredeson at $7.33 million and ahead of Rams guard Coleman Shelton at $6 million, although Shelton was paid as a center. Bredeson and TJ Bass, the next guard after Shelton, both played a decent amount in 2025, although they were both on teams that struggled with injuries on the offensive line.
Maybe the Chargers hand Strange the right guard job and look for more competition at left guard, where they re-signed Penning for $4.5 million over one year. But with $66.8 million of remaining cap space per OverTheCap as of Monday evening - third-most in the NFL - and plenty of guards either still on the market or about to hit the market, the Strange signing feels more like a high-end backup to guard against the sort of catastrophic health LA suffered a season ago on the offensive line.
Strange can also play center - where he logged 117 snaps for the Patriots in 2024 - or either guard spot, so he'd essentially step in as their first offensive lineman off the bench if any of their interior three go down.
Packers interior offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins will be released by Wednesday, per multiple reports, and could be a fit at left guard due to his familiarity with the offensive scheme and with Barry, who was a senior analyst with the Packers in 2020. Browns guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller are still available, as are Dylan Parham (Raiders) and Chris Paul (Commanders). All of those signings come with their own risks, but they would be upgrades over what the Chargers currently have, even with Monday's moves.
In the draft, Strange's contract suggests that the Chargers may draft a Day 2 or 3 player to compete with him during training camp for the right guard job. A prospect like Georgia Tech's Keylan Rutledge would make sense in the third round after being asked to snap at the NFL Combine earlier this month. Notre Dame guard Billy Schrauth, Iowa guard Beau Stephens, or Washington's Carver Willis would be early Day 3 targets who could push Strange for a starting spot as well.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Chargers OL depth chart: How Cole Strange fits, affects draft plans
Continue reading...
