Reigning Heisman finalist and rookie seventh-round pick Max Duggan seemed destined to earn a spot on the Los Angeles Chargers’ 53-man roster.
Most figured that the TCU product would start the season as QB3 behind franchise signal caller Justin Herbert and Easton Stick. That’s not going to be the case. On the eve of the deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53, the Chargers have surprisingly waived the rookie seventh-round pick.
For Los Angeles, this gives the team only two quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. It seems that another move is likely ahead of the team’s Week 1 outing against the Miami Dolphins.
The 239th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, Duggan is coming off a brilliant final season with TCU. He finished second behind USC’s Caleb Williams in the Heisman voting and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
- Max Duggan stats (2022): 64% completion, 3,698 passing yards, 41 total TD, 8 INT
Duggan wrapped up the preseason Friday night, completing 4-of-9 passes for 15 yards and a touchdown while adding 51 rushing yards in a win over the San Francisco 49ers. He relieved Stick with Herbert sitting the exhibition game out. It’ll be interesting to see if a team puts a waiver claim in on the young signal caller this week.
Related: Ranking Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert among NFL QBs
Los Angeles Chargers QB options after waiving Max Duggan
As noted above, Los Angeles has only two quarterbacks on its active roster. A fifth-round pick out of North Dakota State back in 2019, Stick has thrown all of one regular-season pass in his career.
It’s not a great situation to be in should Herbert go down to injury at some point during the 2023 season. In reality, Los Angeles likely opted to keep Stick over Duggan as its third-string quarterback. It will be in the market for a proven veteran to be QB2.
New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore worked with Will Grier when he held the same position with the Dallas Cowboys. Grier is coming off a brilliant preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, compiling four total touchdowns.
But he’s going to be the odd man out in Big D after the Cowboys added Trey Lance in a trade with San Francisco late last week. Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals just released veteran quarterback Colt McCoy. These could be two options for the Cowboys.