What are the Los Angeles Chargers going to do with quarterback Taylor Heinicke?
After a completely miserable preseason, Heinicke has almost certainly played himself out of L.A., leaving the Chargers with only the option to cut him or find a trade partner. After being vastly outplayed by Trey Lance this preseason, he is the No. 3 quarterback on the roster, and unless the Chargers keep three on the 53-man roster, there is just no place for him.
Heinicke was a huge favorite (at least in my mind) to be the top backup to Justin Herbert this coming season, but Lance used the preseason to put forth the best efforts we have seen in his young NFL career, while Heinicke seemingly melted under that pressure.
In three preseason appearances, he went 10-of-21 passing for 95 yards. But it wasn't just about statistics. Heinicke seemed to be lacking confidence and his decision-making abilities were subpar. He wasn't the same quarterback he has been during his career.
With NFL rosters needing to be down to 53 players by 1:00 PM Pacific time on Tuesday, the Chargers will likely cut Heinicke, but they should look for a trade partner first. Last year, the Chargers were in disarray at the backup quarterback position and Herbert was hobbled all preseason. Rather than go into the season with Easton Stick, the Chargers traded a seventh-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Heinicke.
The team could now turn him into a draft pick by doing the same thing. There are going to be teams looking for the kind of veteran experience that Heinicke has. Though it would be a trade within the division, the Las Vegas Raiders could be one of those teams as they lost Aidan O'Connell to a fractured wrist on Saturday night. With Cam Miller the only other QB behind Geno Smith, sending Heinicke there for a seventh-round pick makes sense.
While Heinicke's next stop in the NFL remains unclear, it does seem clear that he's done with the Chargers.
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