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Marcus Gilchrist is a free agent this offseason. Now, there are some differing opinions on Gilchrist, both as a Cornerback and a the team's starting Strong Safety for the last two seasons. However, there is no arguing that he needs to be replaced in some way.
Jahleel Addae is a great young player, and appears to be a tremendous person. He also tries to tackle with his head, and the team doesn't appear to care about his health, so the team needs a better backup plan than the one they have now....which is nothing.
The team could very well decide to bring back Gilchrist, and let him against battle for the starting job, but if they decide against that route there isn't a lot out there in free agency to help them.
Yesterday, the Oakland Raiders released SS Tyvon Branch, formerly known as the only SS in football that could cover Antonio Gates in man-coverage. The reason was not so much a lack of performance as it was a lack of health.
The 29-year old Branch has played in just 5 games over the last two seasons, after missing just 2 games in the four seasons before that. I really can't understand why Branch was put on IR after breaking his foot in Week 3 last season, as he probably could've come back from that mid-season, but it didn't help matters.
The former 4th round draft pick signed a 4-year contract extension in 2013 that was worth up to $26.6 million, after being given the franchise tag in 2012. He'll need to accept a much smaller, much shorter deal somewhere else in the NFL to prove that he can once again stay healthy throughout a full season, and if the Chargers were to take that chance they could end up improving the SS spot on their defense.