The Los Angeles Chargers are toast.

After losing 20-10 to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night, the Chargers are 4-7. There may be talk of late rallies and postseason pushes, but the truth is this: The first season of the post-Justin Herbert contract era has been a waste.

Injuries have played a part, to be sure. But these Chargers entered the season with two things—a $262.5 million star quarterback, and multiple flaws on both sides of the roster, on the sideline and even the front office.

With their 2023 campaign all but shot, the Chargers should start looking to 2024 now and start trying to fix as many of those flaws as possible.

Before they can fix their flaws, though, they have to identify them and be realistic about what’s wrong with the team. That can be hard to do from the inside.

But from the outside, it’s not hard to identify a handful of issues that the Chargers need to address to make sure 2024 goes differently than 2023 did.

It’s not fair to blame Brandon Staley for all of the problems that the Chargers have.

But there’s also no denying that under Staley, the Chargers have mastered the art of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. That was once again on display Sunday night against the Ravens.

Two years ago, all the Chargers needed to make the playoffs was a win over a Las Vegas Raiders team with an interim head coach. Last year in the playoffs, the Bolts raced out to a 27-0 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Both times, the Chargers lost, with the latter going down as the third-worst postseason choke-job in NFL history. This year, the 4-7 Chargers have played in seven one-score games and have won only two of them.

Blame the ultra-aggressiveness on fourth down that backfires with regularity. Blame the fact that a supposed defensive mastermind runs the NFL’s worst pass defense in 2023 and a defense that ranked 20th in the league last year.

Staley has coached 45 games with the Chargers and is one game over .500. His teams have consistently underachieved.

It’s time for him to go.

Back in August, Staley made a point of mentioning that he and general manager Tom Telesco have worked closely together to build the Chargers’ roster, per Daniel Popper of The Athletic.

He even said it like it was a good thing.

“What’s been positive for us is, I think, teaming up with Tom and his staff,” Staley said. We’ve been able to, in all three phases of our team, kind of engineer it the way that we want it. I think we’ve got the pieces to defend the way you need to in the NFL now.”

Staley has a point. If he’s the chef that has prepared this serving of grilled disappointment, then Telesco was the guy who shopped for the ingredients.

And there have been more misses than hits over the past several years.

Telesco’s best first-round pick in recent memory was a no-brainer (Herbert). But he also drafted underwhelming wide receiver Quentin Johnston ahead of Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison, and he signed cornerback J.C. Jackson to one of the most disastrous free-agent deals in years before essentially giving him back to the New England Patriots for free.

Telesco has been the general manager for the Chargers since 2013. Since that time, the Bolts have made the postseason three times and never advanced past the divisional round.

That’s not good enough, unless the Chargers want to waste Herbert’s career.

Even if the Chargers fire Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco, they’ll also need to improve the roster around Herbert. Step 1 is giving Herbert better passing-game weapons than veteran Keenan Allen and…that’s it.

Granted, the Chargers attempted to do that when they took TCU’s Quentin Johnston in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. It’s possible Johnston will still turn things around and become the offensive force the Chargers hoped he’d be.

But if the first 11 games of his career are any indication, Los Angeles shouldn’t hold its breath.

Even though injuries have ravaged the Chargers’ receiving corps, Johnston has only 21 catches for less than 200 yards on the year. The player drafted just after him—Zay Flowers of the Baltimore Ravens—had more touchdowns Sunday night (two) than Johnston has this season (one).

Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer can’t stay on the field. Jalen Guyton is just a guy. Veteran tight end Gerald Everett is average on a good day.

You can’t expect Herbert to succeed consistently if the game plan every week is “target Keenan Allen 20 times.”

Improving the wide receivers around Herbert is only part of the issue in Los Angeles. The Chargers were ninth in total offense last year, and while they have dropped only a few spots this year (to 11th), dropping at all is cause for concern after breaking the bank for Herbert.

Running back Austin Ekeler is one of the most well-rounded players at his position in the game. He may be the best pass-catching back in the league. But the 28-year-old is averaging less than four yards a carry for the first time in his career after a contentious offseason regarding his contract. After scoring 38 touchdowns over the past two years, Ekeler has only five in eight games in 2023.

Like it or not, a parting of the ways is likely after this season. The Chargers are going to need a new running back.

As was aptly demonstrated by the beating Herbert took Sunday night, the offensive line in Los Angeles needs work, too. Tackle Rashawn Slater is healthy again and playing well. Guard Zion Johnson has been solid. But the rest of the line has been a problem, especially with veteran center Corey Linsley banged up.

In part, these are issues that go with having a $50 million quarterback. There’s only so much cap space to go around.

But the reality is that to date, Herbert hasn’t shown a Patrick Mahomes-esque ability to carry an offense and elevate everyone around him.

That means the Chargers have to get better around Herbert in every way they can. They have to put him in the best position to succeed.

Given that the focus of these fixes have all been on offense, you may be wondering when I’m going to address a defense that has struggled this season, especially against the pass.

Call it saving the worst for last.

The problem for the Chargers is this: The more resources they use in free agency and the draft to bolster the offense, the less that’s left to fix the defense. And the Chargers are already projected to be $27 million over next year’s salary cap, per Over the Cap.

But the team doesn’t have any big-time free agents next year that have to be retained. In fact, the three biggest in terms of 2023 salary (Ekeler, defensive tackle Austin Johnson and cornerback Michael Davis) are all expendable.

The new general manager is going to have to re-work some contracts. He or she might even cut a few high-priced veterans to free up cap space. After that, it’ll be time to use some of those resources to fix an atrocious defensive backfield.

Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. isn’t a star, but he’s at least decent and has room to improve. Safety Derwin James has been a difference-maker in the past, but his average annual salary is $19 million, and he’s being miscast this year in a role away from the line of scrimmage.

The Chargers either need to put him where he belongs (as a box safety) or move on and use the cap savings to upgrade the cornerback position and re-sign safety Alohi Gilman.

A lot of this can be attributed to the Jackson fiasco. He and Samuel were supposed to be the team’s starters at corner for years to come.

But that didn’t work. So it’s on to a new plan, because asking Herbert to win shootouts every week isn’t working.