The NFL Draft is over, and most of the big-name free agents have already found a new home. However, that doesn’t mean that the Los Angeles Chargers can’t bolster their depth chart with some remaining free agents. Old friend Kyle Van Noy has yet to find a new NFL home, and the folks at Pro Football Focus believe that he should reunite with the Chargers.
PFF: Chargers, Kyle Van Noy, Should Reunite For 2022
PFF’s Reasoning
Right off the bat, it’s easy to see why this reunion would make sense for both Kyle Van Noy and the Chargers, and PFF points that out. Noting that he “greatly outperformed” his contract last year, Van Noy could easily help this team “both as a true off-ball linebacker and more near the line of scrimmage…offering a unique and valuable skill set to potentially interested teams while earning 60.0-plus grades in every facet in 2022.”
While the Chargers have added some young defensive talent in the 2023 NFL Draft, PFF doesn’t believe that should prevent a reunion. According to the article, “bringing back Van Noy to serve as a veteran depth and a jack-of-all-trades makes a lot of sense in a pivotal year.”
Does A Kyle Van Noy, Chargers Reunion Make Sense?
So, Pro Football Focus has certainly laid out their case for why Kyle Van Noy should come back to the Chargers, but does it actually make sense? Honestly, it’s hard to argue against them.
Van Noy plays all over the front seven, and you can never have too many versatile players that can get after the quarterback. Tuli Tuipulotu and Daiyan Henley are the future at edge defender and linebacker, respectively, but that doesn’t mean that Kyle Van Noy can’t come back for one final season. Both of the rookies were selected on Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, so while they could contribute right out of the gate, it’s anything but a given.
In many ways, the presence of these two youngsters only makes a Kyle Van Noy reunion all the more likely. If one or both of them is not ready to go right away, the veteran can take over starting duties and play at a high level. However, if they both hit the ground running, then Van Noy can serve as valuable depth at both positions. Quite literally everyone raves about Van Noy as a teammate, so he should be able to seamlessly fill in as the veteran leader, regardless of how often he’s on the field.
some ppl have grandpas, some have peepaws, some have pops, we have kyle van noy pic.twitter.com/oz9gjziUnO
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) August 5, 2022
The last issue to address is money. As with all things, a Kyle Van Noy reunion only makes sense if the price is right. While it’s impossible to know exactly what type of contract Van Noy is hoping for, the fact that he signed a one-year, $2.25 million deal last year heavily implies that the Chargers won’t have to break the bank for his services in 2023. Maybe he’s earned a slight pay raise, but Los Angeles currently has $12.7 million in cap space. They can easily afford to bring him back, and he’s a perfect fit for the roster.
Main Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski – USA Today Sports
