The Los Angeles Chargers on Friday night signed former Philadelphia Eagles guard Mekhi Becton, the team announced.
Becton was the 26th-ranked player in The Athletic’s top 150 free agents and the second-ranked guard.
How he fits
Becton fills a huge need for the Chargers on the interior of the offensive line, one of the team’s biggest weaknesses in 2024. The Chargers lost to the Houston Texans in the first round of the playoffs and struggled to protect Justin Herbert in the game. It was a glaring hole all season. The Chargers had to address this in some capacity during the offseason. Now they have. Becton, the No. 11 pick in the 2020 draft, started his career as a tackle. He signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason and earned a spot as the starting right guard for the Super Bowl champions. The Chargers have one of the best starting tackle duos in the league in left tackle Rashawn Slater and right tackle Joe Alt. The priority this offseason was finding more talent and stability on the interior. The Chargers were not strong enough in pass protection or the run game with starting center Bradley Bozeman and guards Zion Johnson and Trey Pipkins III. Becton is a huge step toward solving that problem.
2025 impact
Which guard spot will Becton play? The Chargers effectively have openings at both positions. General manager Joe Hortiz said at the combine that the team will be experimenting with left guard Johnson at center in 2025. They still have right guard Pipkins on the roster. Pipkins played exclusively tackle before 2024, but he moved inside last season after the Chargers drafted Alt in the first round. Becton played over 1,000 snaps at right guard for the Eagles last season. It would make sense for the Chargers to keep Becton at that same spot, though they could potentially play him at left guard. The Chargers did re-sign Bozeman on a two-year deal, so they have some options. They could add another guard in either free agency or the draft. Teven Jenkins, formerly of the Chicago Bears, has played both guard spots in his career and is still available as a free agent. Alabama’s Tyler Booker was a starting left guard in college. As the roster currently stands, I think the Chargers would go with this starting five: LT Slater, LG Johnson, C Bozeman, RG Becton, RT Alt. Plenty of time to go before the Chargers have to settle on their five best.
Cap update
We do not have monetary terms on Becton’s deal yet, so we will tentatively project a $5.5 million cap hit for Becton based on market value.
We are still projecting nine other Chargers cap hits:
• CB Donte Jackson: $4 million • DL Teair Tart: $3.5 million • LB Troy Dye: $2.75 million • LB Denzel Perryman: $3.65 million • CB Benjamin St-Juste: $2.3 million • WR Mike Williams: $4 million • DL Da’Shawn Hand: $2.2 million • DL Naquan Jones: $1.17 million
• QB Taylor Heinicke: $4 million
Using these projected cap hits, we can project the Chargers with the following cap space amounts …
Projected total space: $37.42 million
Projected effective space (which includes draft pick compensation): $34.23 million
Projected spending space (which includes draft pick compensation and $8 million in-season budget): $26.23 million
Outlook
Becton was drafted as a tackle, and after an underwhelming start to his career with the New York Jets, he redefined his career last season with the Eagles. The big question with Becton: Can he maintain the same level of play outside the environment Philadelphia provided? He played on the best offensive line in the league, including next to a future Hall of Famer in right tackle Lane Johnson. He played for one of the best offensive line coaches in the history of football in Jeff Stoutland. It is always difficult to separate a player from his situation, and it is particularly difficult with Becton considering his small sample size at guard. There were other options available in free agency. The price will tell a lot as far as the value of this signing. But the Chargers were never coming away from this window without an upgrade on the interior of the offensive line. They have improved with Becton, and with the signing, this feels like a pretty complete free-agency period for the Chargers.
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
