Welcome back to the Chargers Mailbag!

The offseason is here but the Mailbag keeps going. We'll do one of these every month or so in the offseason. Send in submissions for the Mailbag here on Twitter or by sending me an email.

Off we go...

This is an easy one.

It's the high standard that Jim Harbaugh (and everyone in the organization) helped set in Year 1.

To highlight this, I have to give credit to Robert Mays of The Athletic, who was in town a few weeks ago for a project he's working on.

Mays, who spoke with Derwin James, Jr. at The Bolt, later said on his podcast that he asked James what culture means to him, and that the Bolts captain said it's what you think of when you look at a team's logo.

For example, the Steelers logo symbolizes Mike Tomlin and a tough, hard-nosed team. The Chiefs and Bills logos are summed up by their elite quarterbacks. And so on.

In my opinion, Harbaugh now represents the Chargers logo in some way. And because of him, the Bolts are a team on the rise.

Maybe in the past you looked at the Bolt and wondered if the Chargers would be able to get out of their own way at times.

Under Harbaugh, that doesn't feel like this case and was certainly on display in his first regular season. There were games where the Chargers lost, yeah, but didn't feel as if the Bolts just willingly gave a game away.

Little details matter, especially in the NFL, where everyone is good and the difference between winning and losing s razor thin.

Harbaugh elevated the Chargers ceiling in just one year and undoubtedly has the Bolts trending in the right direction.

There's more work to be done, sure, but the foundation has been laid here and more progress and results should be on the way in 2025 and beyond.

Lots of free agency chatter these days and rightfully so.

A quick refresher that the Chargers have 30 players slated to be free agents and that the New League Year begins March 12.

In terms of a timeline, we're probably going to start hearing some rumblings in early March, perhaps in the days before free agency actually starts.

Keep in mind that the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine kicks off in late February and the weeklong event is Indianapolis is generally viewed as the start of the offseason when teams start to gather free agency intel.

You are right in that Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz and the front office hit on numerous 2024 free agents, many of whom signed 1-year deals and are scheduled to hit free agency again.

Poona Ford was perhaps the best player acquisition while others such as Kristian Fulton, Elijah Molden and Denzel Perryman all played crucial roles this past season.

Great question.

At this point, it's too early to tell because the offseason is less than two weeks old.

I will say that the Chargers have the ability to be aggressive in either avenue if that's the direction they want to go.

From a salary cap standpoint, the Bolts are projected to have more than $70 million to spend in free agency. That is obviously more than enough to land a potential big fish.

On the other hand, a hypothetical trade for a big-name player likely means giving up draft capital. The Bolts currently have eight draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, but it's worth noting that number could change with the addition of potential compensatory picks and also the final result of the conditional pick in the Taylor Heinicke trade.

Swinging a deal for a high-profile player would mean giving up draft capital while also factoring in financials as the Chargers would have to fit that money into the salary cap.

The benefit of trading for a player, of course, is that the Chargers could theoretically aim for any player in the league compared to a smaller pool of players available in free agency.

Overall, it will be a fascinating offseason for Hortiz and the Chargers front office.

Your timing is impeccable!

The Chargers Mock Draft Tracker 1.0 just dropped Tuesday and included of the latest mock drafts from pundits around the football world.

Of the 15 projections, eight went offense while seven added defensive help to the Bolts. And if we break it down even further, tight end and defensive line (four picks apiece) were popular selections while edge rusher had three choices.

The variation here shouldn't surprise you. It's not even February yet and there is still so much that will shake out between now and when Round 1 starts on April 24.

If you ask me, there are strong arguments for while the Bolts could add to either side of the ball.

Offensively, it's never a bad idea to keep surrounding Justin Herbert with weapons whether that's a pass catcher or a protector up front.

And on the defensive side, key players such as Khalil Mack, Ford and Morgan Fox are all slated to be free agents while Joey Bosa's contract is also worth monitoring. The Bolts might need to beef up the trenches on this side of the ball depending on what happens in free agency.

But, with 92 days until the draft begins in Green Bay, we have plenty of time to go around in circles about who the Chargers first-round pick will be.

We'll end the Mailbag with this one, which might require a two-part answer.

Maybe the Bolts do both?

Bradley Bozeman is slated to be a free agent so there's a chance the Bolts starting center from this past season isn't here.

However, Bozeman made it very clear in Houston after the playoff loss that he loved playing for the Chargers and that he wanted to be back. A team captain and respected leader, Bozeman actually got choked up when I asked him how disappointing it was for the season to be over so suddenly.

Part of me wonders if the Bolts and Bozeman will find a way to remain together in 2025. However, that doesn't mean he would be the starting center.

Perhaps the Chargers then address the position in the draft and create a competition of sorts at that spot. Keep in mind that Bozeman has guard experience, too, so maybe he mixes in there if he comes back.

Again, it's easy to throw out all of these scenarios in January when there's so much left to be figured out. But that's part of the fun, too.

A final point in all of this: Hortiz and Harbaugh both repeatedly said when they were hired that they wanted the Bolts offensive line to be a centerpiece of the entire team. The unit had an underwhelming performance in the postseason, so perhaps the Bolts pour sizable resources into that group this offseason.