Editor's note: The Chicago Bears are reportedly signing Jake Moody to their practice squad, per Ari Meirov, and this article was written before the signing.
After a pair of botched field goals in the Week 1 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers officially waived placekicker Jake Moody after the front office was convinced the inconsistencies outweighed his clutch performances.
The Niners replaced Moody with former Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers placekicker Eddy Pineiro, who comes to the Bay Area with a career field-goal accuracy of 88 percent, better than even Moody's rookie season (84 percent).
San Francisco moved on from Moody, but that does not mean his NFL career is over. After all, he made multiple field goals, including a pair of 50-plus yarders in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here's the one team that makes the most sense to add Moody to its special teams unit.
Chargers make sense to sign former 49ers kicker Jake Moody
Cameron Dicker is the current starter for the Los Angeles Chargers, and a long-term contract pretty much ensures he won't go anywhere anytime soon. Additionally, he had a much better game in Week 1 than Moody, with a 37- and a 39-yard field goal to help give his team a 27-21 victory over the Chiefs.
However, currently on the Chargers' depth chart and practice squad, no one is listed as a second stringer. Thus, a potential reunion between head coach Jim Harbaugh and Moody could happen.
Harbaugh was the University of Michigan head coach from 2015 until 2023, and Moody played for five seasons under Harbaugh from 2018 to 2022.
During Moody's tenure with the Wolverines, he earned Big Ten Kicker of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten honors in back-to-back years, in 2021 and 2022. Moody then joined the 49ers in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
He was a part of a deep playoff run that saw Harbaugh's former team, San Francisco, make the Super Bowl. Even if Moody gets invited to the practice squad, he is ready to back up Dicker should he struggle or get hurt.
It wouldn't be the first time that Harbaugh and the Chargers took on a former 49er. Their second-string quarterback, Trey Lance, is a former first-round draft selection by San Francisco.
If Dicker doesn't remain healthy, then Moody makes sense to be added to the Chargers' roster. Their head coach could vouch for him from their days together at Michigan.