For the Los Angeles Chargers last season, outside of Ladd McConkey, they had a giant, glaring hole at the wide receiver position.

Almost every free agent and trade target at the position was linked to Los Angeles from Davante Adams to Cooper Kupp to Brandon Aiyuk, and so many more in between.

These partnerships made little sense however, in conjunction with the Chargers’ plan heading into free agency.

Although they were equipped with a boatload of cap space, they were set on avoiding top-of-the-market free agents, instead placing their focus on unearthing hidden gems and inking them to cheap, value contracts.

Despite this philosophy, the team was still linked to perhaps the best available receiver of the crop, DK Metcalf.

The former Pro-Bowler requested a trade from the Seattle Seahawks earlier this month, and from all accounts, was fascinated with the idea of playing in Los Angeles alongside star quarterback Justin Herbert.

The hypothetical marriage was short lived though, as Metcalf was eventually dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers who immediately locked him up for the next half-decade.

The extension was worth $150 million, and this was assumed to be the reason the be the reason that the Chargers bowed out of the negotiations.

However, a star defender from Pittsburgh recently offered up a different story for why a trade with Los Angeles never formulated.

Four-time All-Pro defensive tackle Cameron Heyward appeared on a podcast recently and claimed that he is the actual reason that Metcalf never made it to LA.

Heyward says that he heard Metcalf to the Chargers was pretty much a done deal.

After later receiving some news that this report might not be 100% accurate, he instructed his friend Tracy Perlman, an NFL executive, to tell the star receiver to come to Pittsburgh.

Nobody has come out to deny Heyward’s story, or support it for that matter, so it’s hard to tell if this is truly what happened.

But if this is the case, it’s another devastating tale for the Chargers in what’s been a disastrous offseason so far.

The team has balked at multiple opportunities to address their biggest positional weakness and their only addition to the receiver room was past-his-prime Mike Williams.

No matter how Metcalf got to Pittsburgh, the Chargers fumbled a prime opportunity to acquire a talent that doesn’t come available very often in the NFL.