Do you think this is the year Joe Hortiz makes a splash in free agency? (Mike via email)
We'll certainly find out in the next week or so.
As a reminder, the NFL's legal tampering period takes place from Monday at 9 a.m. (PT) up until 1 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday.
Teams are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents at the start of the 2026 New League Year, which begins at 1 p.m. (PT) on March 11.
And, as of this Mailbag posting on Wednesday morning, the Chargers are projected to have roughly $85 million in salary cap space, the fourth-most in the league.
Hortiz was asked after the season how he planned on spending that ample cap space and said some notable internal names — Khalil Mack, Odafe Oweh and Zion Johnson — could potentially be the focal point in the early days.
"I don't want to spend recklessly, I know that. We have a number of guys that are up and hopefully we can let them eat into some of that cap space. I'd like to give some of that to them," Hortiz said. "I think you have to make smart decisions in free agency. I've said it over and over, if you chase perceived needs in free agency and the draft then you end up, more often than not, overpaying or making a mistake.
"We do have to be calculated, have to be smart. We have to be all-in on the player and believe in the player. We'll spend money, but we're going to spend money internally, too, because there's a lot of guys we'd like to have back," Hortiz added.
So, do the Chargers make a big swing in free agency this year? I think that question centers (no pun intended) on potential external free agents, some of which were mentioned above.
If the Bolts bring back some of their internal guys first, that will obviously cut into that $85 million.
Then, you have to be careful not to, as Hortiz put it, "overpay and make a mistake" based on a perceived need.
One final thing I'll add is this.
Hortiz and his staff have been excellent the past two years in finding low-risk, high-reward external free agent signings. Those deals, more recently with players such as Donte Jackson and Da'Shawn Hand, have helped the Bolts get to 11 wins and back-to-back playoff appearances.
However, you can be sure that Hortiz and Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh aren't satisfied with just making the playoff dance. They want to win and go far in the tournament, too.
We'll see if that sense of urgency shows up with how the Chargers approach free agency this time around.