Chargers release OG Trai Turner

The Chargers are officially releasing offensive guard Trai Turner after failing to trade for him this past week, per NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport. The move saves the team $11.5 million in cap space, giving them a current total of $38,169,474 according to Overthecap.com.

Turner was acquired in a trade from the Panthers in exchange for left tackle Russell Okung. The deal happened on March 4 of last year, almost a year ago to the day.

In his lone year with the Chargers, Turner recorded nine starts, missing the other seven games with a groin injury that just couldn’t seem to go away. When he was on the field, however, he was graded as the worst offensive lineman on the entire team, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Bolts continue to have horrendous luck when it comes to free agent offensive lineman position, but it was tough not to love the acquisition of Turner at the moment given his notable resume. After a stellar start to his career, and earning five-straight Pro Bowl appearances, the injuries began to pile up. From 2017-2019, the three seasons prior to joining the Chargers, he missed exactly three games. His seven games missed in 2020 were a career high.

Luckily, the team doesn’t have to eat any dead cap by releasing Turner. Even though the Chargers had one of the better cap situations before this move, they’ve got a number of ideal cut candidates which, if released, would give them plenty of room to work with heading into Brandon Staley’s first free agency signing period as an NFL head coach.