Should the San Diego Chargers sign defensive end Chris Canty?

The Baltimore Ravens have cut veteran defensive end Chris Canty. He is no longer the great player he was in Dallas, but he is still a very, very solid contributor. As a younger man, Canty was not only strong against the run but an effective pass rusher. Those days have gone by now, though, and while he won't kill you on passing downs, that's also not why you have him on your team. What Canty is now is a top end rotational player. Per Pro Football Focus, he had the sixth best run stop percentage of any 3-4 defensive end in football in 2014.

The Chargers need a run-stopping force now more than ever with the retirement of outside linebacker Jarret Johnson earlier this week. Jerry Attaochu, Melvin Ingram, Tourek Williams, and co. aren't going to fill that role in any meaningful way, so the team needs to look to upgrade the interior of the defensive front. Chris Canty would absolutely represent just such an upgrade. Taking snaps away from the disappointing Kendall Reyes, who could hopefully become more of an "obvious passing downs only" rotational player, would just be a bonus.

The question at this point isn't if Canty fits the team or if he's good enough, but whether or not he'll want to sign to play in San Diego and if so at what cost. The Ravens cuts Canty because he was due to have a cap number over $3.5M this season. That's more than you want to spend on a rotational defensive end, but if he can be had for a number south of $2M, the Chargers owe it to themselves to give it a shot.