For all but two franchises, these next two weeks are among the most excruciating of the year. Twelve teams made the playoffs; now ten of which are at home on their couch. This is where the Chargers currently find themselves, and it would be easy to give in to depression and sink into a lonely Cheetos-filled blob.

But there are other options. Not only that, there’s still some Chargers football on the horizon. The Chargers made headlines a few weeks back when they had more team members heading to the Pro Bowl than any other (seven!). While Philip Rivers has decided to stay home for the game (Andrew Luck will take his place), six other Chargers will see the field this week.

Sunday, January 27 @ 2pm

The 2019 Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl is being held in Orlando, FL, which makes it an attractive destination for some of the NFL’s finest to take their families. While the Chargers originally had seven entrants (the most in the NFL), the departure of Philip Rivers moves them down to six. The Bears now have the most entrants with eight, but we should have a good time watching key offensive players have a field day in the Sunshine State (and maybe the defensive guys will have a good time as well?).

• WR Keenan Allen
• RB Melvin Gordon III
• FS Derwin James
• ST Adrian Phillips
• C Mike Pouncey
• DE Melvin Ingram
• QB Philip Rivers (Replaced by Andrew Luck)

The fun doesn’t stop there— the Chargers’ coaching staff are also joining the Pro Bowl, while the Cowboys will represent the NFC. Much has been made about how Bill Belichick got to learn more about Philip Rivers during their Pro Bowl meetup. This can be a very important way for coaches to learn more about potential best-of-the-best free agents, so there’s certainly an upside to coaching the Pro Bowl.

February 3:

Super Bowl LIII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia)

Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to melt into a Cheetos-blob, but it’s important to realize that the new league year is barely a month away and that there’s lots of things to look forward to even after the Super Bowl (and we’re not even talking about non NFL action that might interest Chargers fans).

February 19:

First day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players

February 26 - March 4:

NFL Scouting Combine (Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, Indiana)

March 5:

Deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players. The Chargers did not tag anyone in 2018.

March 11:

Clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations, with the agents of pending Unrestricted Free Agents on other teams. Often referred to as the “legal tampering period.”

March 13:

New League Year and Free Agency Begins at 4 p.m.

• All players, whose contracts expire this offseason, will officially do so.
• Teams are allowed to have a maximum of 90 players on their active roster until final cuts in September.
• Top-51 Rule begins, which means all clubs must be under the 2019 Salary Cap. However, only the top-51 salaries are counted against the cap until rosters are paired down to 53 in September.
• Teams may begin signing free agents from other teams.
• Teams may officially begin trading players still under contract for the 2019 season.

So there you have it, Chargers fans! You have one more chance to see some of your favorite 2018 Chargers in action, but there’s going to be lots of juicy stories (and probably even more Steelers drama, LOL) in the next few weeks. It’s not easy, but together we’ll get through it!

-Jason “Turn that frown upside down!” Michaels