The Los Angeles Chargers, no matter how you spin it, lost an important contributor when Benjamin St-Juste went to the Green Bay Packers.
St-Juste came to the Chargers after a pair of rough seasons with the Washington Commanders, and he immediately turned things around in Jesse Minter's scheme. On a one-year deal with a cap hit of $2.5 million, he played 37% of the defensive snaps for Los Angeles, posting a 77.1 coverage grade, per Pro Football Focus. Although his role necessitated a relatively limited sample size, that mark placed ninth among all qualified cornerbacks in 2025.
St-Juste certainly isn't irreplaceable, and the two-year, $9.8 million deal he earned with Green Bay made it unlikely the Chargers would even consider bringing him back. With Tarheeb Still, Cam Hart, and Donte Jackson locked into their jobs, they simply need to add another depth cornerback who can cycle in and out of the rotation when needed.
But they didn't add that piece in either free agency or the Draft. If they leave that hole on their roster open until training camp, it likely indicates that special-teamer Deane Leonard is in for a major upgrade in responsibility in 2026.
Deane Leonard could get the biggest opportunity of his career in 2026
When Leonard was drafted in the seventh-round by the Chargers in the 2022 NFL Draft, he was seen largely as a raw, developmental project. Although he had a number of deficits in his coverage instincts, the thought was that he could ultimately develop into a solid rotational corner with patience.
So far, that hasn't quite come to fruition. He saw 222 defensive snaps in 2023. But his workload has fallen off since then, seeing 71 snaps in 2024 and just 36 in 2025. But during that time, though, he has ingratiated himself wholly with special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken. He played 82% of the team's special-teams snaps in 2025, primarily as a gunner.
Los Angeles could still look to add a veteran corner like Rasul Douglas or L'Jarius Sneed this offseason. They certainly have the cap space to do so. But if they don't, Leonard would likely be the prime candidate to take over St-Juste's snap share.
Beyond him, the Chargers have Eric Rogers and Isas Waxter, neither of whom have played a snap at the NFL level. They also brought in Jeremiah Wilson and Rodney Shelley as UDFAs. Perhaps both players will have the chance to make the roster as special-teamers, but it's clear that Leonard has the most experience and has earned the most trust from the coaching staff out of this group.
Will he be ready to take on the job if he's called upon? His 2023 tape was rough, but he was less polished and he played under a Brandon Staley defense that failed to properly utilize the talent it had in the secondary.
Perhaps the Chargers have enough faith in him this time around that they don't feel the need to seek out another corner on the market.
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