Nick Wright points big concerns for Justin Herbert’s Chargers after Brandon Staley’s firing - “This is not that attractive of a job”

The Los Angeles Chargers have fired head coach Brandon Staley and General Manager Tom Telesco following their 63-21 Week 15 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. That humiliating Thursday Night Football performance was the final act in a largely disappointing season that led to their ouster.

While the Chargers are at 5-9 after that game, their roster looks good on paper, especially at full strength. However, an NFL Analyst believes that there's a bigger problem the Chargers must face beyond Staley, and argues that the front office's mess will be more challenging to overcome.

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Nick Wright raises concerns for the one taking over from Tom Telesco, not Brandon Staley

While Staley's coaching style brought concerns to the Chargers' sideline, FOX Sports Analyst Nick Wright sees a bigger problem for the next Chargers' general manager. In a recent episode of "First Things First", he laid out the issues that the next executive must address:

“Tom Telesco was a bigger problem than Brandon Staley. He got fired, Tom Tesco's mistakes are not easily wiped away, that's the GM. The Chargers have a long cold winter ahead of them, their first-round picks have not worked out… The Chargers are in the second-worst cap situation of anybody in the league only the New Orleans Saints are worse than them.”

The Los Angeles Chargers have the eighth-most cap space as of Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season, per Over the Cap. However, they are already projected to be $42.1 million above the predicted team salary limit for 2024. Only the Buffalo Bills ($43.08 million over) and the New Orleans Saints ($87.7 million over) have deeper cap issues to address.

Wright added:

“They have two cornerstone guys their quarterback and their left tackle, everybody else is either underachieving or not achieving up to the level of their contract or they're getting older and older, Austin Ekeler is going to be a free agent. I sell that to say this is not that attractive of a job, this is not a quick turnaround, now it's more attractive than the jobs with no quarterback…”

Brandon Staley had the opportunity to coach Justin Herbert, who is on injured reserve after getting surgery for his fractured right index finger. Meanwhile, Rashawn Slater had an All-Pro rookie season but manifested performance problems since incurring an ankle injury. Ekeler is also in the final season of his four-year, $24.5 million contract.

Adding insult to injury, the Chargers drafted Quentin Johnston over Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, Tank Dell, and Puka Nacua. All four wideouts have better stats than Johnston, even if Dell had a season-ending fibula injury.

Worst yet, the next Chargers general manager must prepare for the 2025 offseason because Slater, Asante Samuel Jr., Mike Williams, Keenan Allen and Khalil Mack will become free agents.

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Brandon Staley's Chargers coaching stint

The Chargers hired Staley three weeks before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs competed in Super Bowl LV. He took over from Anthony Lynn, who went 34-32 in four seasons with Los Angeles' AFC squad.

Brandon Staley finished his first season as head coach at 9-8. A year later, their record slightly improved to 10-7, earning them a postseason berth. However, they suffered a meltdown in their Wild Card Round matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, losing the game by one point despite having a 27-7 halftime lead.