(WAVY) – One day after making the Atlanta Falcons 53-man roster, former Old Dominion quarterback Taylor Heinicke has been traded to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Justin Herbert is the Chargers starter, but he’s been battling through a right foot injury. Easton Stick is the other quarterback on the Chargers roster but team management must believe Heinicke has a better chance to succeed than Stick should that injury to Herbert linger.
The Chargers acquired Heinicke for a conditional sixth round pick.
Heinicke’s NFL journey has taken him from Minnesota, Carolina, New England (practice squad), Houston, Washington, Atlanta and now Los Angeles.
With his career seemingly over in 2020, Heinicke received a call from Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner about being the teams emergency COVID quarterback – a just in case scenario.
The quarterback room then consisted of Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen. But after Haskins was released and Allen and Smith suffered injuries, Heinicke was forced to start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a playoff game which was his second NFL start and first with Washington.
Despite losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions, Heinicke performed well and earned a contract with Washington.
Meant to be a back-up, he ended up starting 24 regular season games for Washington and posted a 12-11-1 record.
He signed a free agent deal with the Falcons in 2023 and went 1-3 in his four starts.
Atlanta signed Kirk Cousins to a massive contract and drafted Michael Penix Jr. in the first round, leaving Heinicke as the odd man out.
Now the former ODU Monarch will be under the tutelage of new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh as the 31-year-old journeyman quarterback continues his NFL odyssey.