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Chargers released former first-round pick Larry English.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 22, 2014
I promise it's real this time.
The San Diego Chargers tried to release Larry English earlier this offseason and were unable to due to some complicated rule that I never really bothered to look up because I was pretty sure they were just going to release him later anyway, and now they have.
This has more to do with cap space and depth than anything. The Chargers have Jarret Johnson, Dwight Freeney, Melvin Ingram, Jeremiah Attaochu, Tourek Williams, and Reggie Walker that can all play at OLB, and that's not even counting some of the other guys that could make a splash in Training Camp. He's not a top-level talent nor a young prospect, so there simply isn't room for English on the depth chart anymore.
The 2009 first-round draft pick was set to make $2.4 million this season. Instead, he'll get nothing and the Chargers will take a cap hit of $865k (for a total cap savings of about $1.5 million).
Don't expect a corresponding move, at least not any time soon. This was a move to get some wiggle room at the top of the cap, done early enough that English could catch on with a team at the start of their camp. This is one of those "professional moves" that fans may not totally understand, but other players always pay attention to. It makes the team look better and might help landing them a free agent in the future.
Good work, everyone in San Diego's front office, and good luck to Larry in the future.