It's been a long time since the Los Angeles Chargers organization won the AFC West, not having done so since 2009 when the team was still based in San Diego. After getting off to a 3-0 start with one of those wins coming against the Kansas City Chiefs, it was reasonable to think that the Chargers had a shot to finally win the division this year.
Well, after dropping its past two games, L.A. made a trade, acquiring pass-rusher Odafe Oweh from the Baltimore Ravens. According to Adam Schefter, the Chargers landed Oweh in exchange for Alohi Gilman and a fifth-round pick in next year's draft.
Another trade, per sources:
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2025
🏈Ravens receive:
Safety Alohi Gilman and a 2026 fifth-round pick.
🏈Chargers receive:
Edge Odafe Oweh and Rams 7th in 2027.
Chargers trade for pass-rusher Odafe Oweh to boost chances in AFC West
The Ravens spent a first-round pick on Oweh in the 2021 NFL Draft and he's been a solid pass-rusher for them. Just last year he tallied a career-high 10 sacks and 23 quarterback hits, proving that he can be a productive player.
This year's Ravens defense has been ravaged by injuries and, at 1-4, Baltimore doesn't look to be going anywhere. Even before the injuries took over on that side of the ball, their defense was still subpar and it's hard to win games when your defense is giving up over 40 points every game.
As for how this impacts the Chargers, they'll have a significantly better pass-rushing room now, especially with the injury to Khalil Mack. While Oweh hasn't been fantastic this year, he's still been one of the more productive players on Baltimore's beat-up defense, tallying 10 tackles and five hits on the quarterback.
The Chargers had a weakness and they improved it with this trade. That unfortunately should be a clear message to Chiefs fans that perhaps this Chargers organization isn't going to fall into the same traps they previously did.
Hopefully, the Chiefs have some tricks of their own up their sleeves when it comes to improving the roles on their roster. We shouldn't doubt Brett Veach but seeing teams in the division put the moves on ahead of the deadline probably will have some Chiefs fans nervous about what's to come.