A year after the Chargers cut him, wide receiver Mike Williams is back, and eager to show he’s the same player Chargers fans remember from his two 1,000-yard seasons with the franchise.
Williams did not look like the same player last year, when he played half the season with the Jets and half the season with the Steelers, and when he was asked at his introductory press conference if he thinks he has something to prove, Williams answered, “Well, yeah, I feel like it, because last year was terrible for me, for sure.”
Williams didn’t badmouth either of the two teams he played for last year and went out of his way to make clear he has no hard feelings toward Aaron Rodgers, who blamed him for a costly interception before he was traded to the Steelers. But he also detailed what a struggle the 2024 season was for him.
“I’m just being honest. It was terrible,” Williams said. “Probably the worst year I’ve had in the league by far. So, yeah, I’m just putting it in the past. That was the past. Trying to make it feel like it didn’t happen for me. But, yeah, just getting back to what I’m used to doing and having fun, that’s my main thing. This is where it all started and I’m excited to be back.”
Williams managed to play in 18 regular-season games last year — a rare feat that he accomplished because he was traded from the Jets to the Steelers before the Jets’ bye and after the Steelers’ bye — but he said the ACL rehab he was going through was difficult, because he was accustomed to the medical staff he had long known with the Chargers. He’s glad to be back with the Chargers now.
“Never wanted to leave, on my side, but it’s the business part of football, and things happen,” Williams said. “But now I’m back, and happy to be back.”
Late Friday night, the Chargers announced that veteran offensive lineman Mekhi Becton signed a contract with the team. Details were scarce.
On Saturday morning, NFL Media reported that it’s a two-year, $20 million deal.
It’s good, not great. It’s probably better than anyone would have expected him to get this year, after four seasons with the Jets that didn’t live up to his draft pedigree as the eleventh overall selection in 2020.
The full details aren’t yet known. It could be a one-year deal with an option on the second.
Regardless, Becton did enough in 2024 to get a solid (not spectacular) contract for 2025, and maybe for 2026.
Most of the top free agents signed early. As the first week of free agency ends, one of the top unsigned players has a new home.
The Chargers have announced that former Eagles guard Mekhi Becton has signed with L.A.
The eleventh overall pick in the 2020 draft, Becton’s time with the Jets was underwhelming — largely due to injury. He signed a one-year deal with the Eagles last year, after playing out his rookie contract. (The Jets didn’t pick up his fifth-year option.)
It’s reportedly a two-year deal. No other terms have been disclosed.
Becton started his career as a tackle. The Eagles moved him to right guard in 2024, and he quickly meshed with the best offensive line in the league.
Running back Najee Harris signed with the Chargers this week, after four years in Pittsburgh. It wasn’t a difficult decision for him to leave the Steelers.
Meeting with reporters on Friday, Harris said he knew halfway through the 2024 season that he wouldn’t be returning.
“I didn’t plan on doing it,” Harris said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN.com, regarding his departure from the NFL team that drafted him in 2021. “It wasn’t something that was in the plan or anything, but it is a business.”
He said that coach Mike Tomlin was honest with him throughout the process.
Now, Harris will be playing for Jim Harbaugh. Harris said Harbaugh recruited him to Michigan in 2017. The effort included Harbaugh showing up at Harris’s homecoming game, wearing Harris’s high-school colors, and announcing the school’s homecoming queen.
“I was just like, what the heck?” Harris said. “I mean, this dude is calling out just doing everything, but that showed how much of a down-to-earth cool guy he is.”
Eight years later, what does Harris think of Harbaugh?
“He’s the same guy, man,” Harris said. “He’s always energetic, man. He’s always the life of the party, so he’s just a good guy to be around, down to earth, and he makes you feel comfortable.”
Now, they’re finally joining forces.
“When we played against them,” Harris said, “I saw the type of team that they’re on the rise to be and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Harris will get a chance to see the Steelers right away; Pittsburgh visits L.A. during the 2025 season.
The Cardinals signed wide receiver Simi Fehoko to a one-year deal, the team announced Friday.
Fehoko, 27, is a four-year veteran who has played 24 games with two starts in his career. He has 10 receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown.
He appeared in a career-high eight games with two starts last season with the Chargers and had six receptions for 106 yards. Fehoko missed part of last season with an elbow injury that landed him on injured reserve.
Fehoko entered the league as a fifth-round selection of the Cowboys in 2021 and spent his first two seasons in Dallas. He played the past two seasons with the Chargers and appeared in 14 games with seven receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown in addition to three special teams tackles.
The Cardinals also made official the signing of defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson to a two-year deal.
The Falcons have brought in a veteran defender.
Atlanta has agreed to a two-year deal with edge rusher Morgan Fox, according to a report from NFL Media.
Fox, 30, spent the last three seasons with the Chargers as a rotational defender. Last season, Fox tallied 3.5 sacks with four tackles for loss and six QB hits in 17 games.
He was on the field for 53 percent of defensive snaps in 2024 and 17 percent of special teams snaps.
Fox has not missed a game since returning from a torn ACL suffered during the 2018 offseason program. After beginning his career with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2016, he signed with the Panthers in 2021 before heading back to Los Angeles with the Chargers in 2022.
In 120 career games, Fox has recorded 27.5 sacks with 33 tackles for loss and 51 QB hits.
Journeyman linebacker Del’Shawn Phillps is headed to Los Angeles for his next stop.
NFL Media reports that he has agreed to terms on a contract with the Chargers. It is a one-year deal for Phillips.
Phillips had 16 tackles and a tackle for loss while appearing in every regular season game for the Texans last season. He had three more tackles in the postseason.
Phillips entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Falcons in 2019 and made his regular season debut with the Bills the next year. He moved onto the Jets in 2021 and then spent the next two seasons with the Ravens. He has 76 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 69 career regular season games.
Free agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. took a trip to Arizona on Thursday.
The Cardinals hosted Samuel on a visit, according to Field Yates of ESPN.
Samuel has spent his entire career with the Chargers, who selected him in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft. When healthy he has been a starter, but last year he played in only four games because of a shoulder injury. That shoulder may be why the interest in him hasn’t been as strong as expected since free agency started this week.
Samuel is the No. 32 player on our list of the Top 100 free agents, and the fourth-best player who is still available as of Friday morning.
The career of quarterback Taylor Heinicke will continue.
Per multiple reports, Heinicke has re-signed with the Chargers. It’s a one-year deal worth “up to” $6.2 million.
Undrafted 10 years ago, Heinicke has spent time with the Vikings, Patriots, Texans, Panthers, Commanders, and Falcons. He also played for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the first reboot of the XFL in 2020.
Heinicke, 31, was traded by the Falcons to the Chargers last August. Now, he’ll be sticking around in L.A.
He has 42 regular-season appearances and 29 starts. His record is 13-15-1.
Heinecke also started a wild-card game for the Commanders in 2020, an eight-point home loss to the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay would go on to win the Super Bowl.
In the regular-season, Heinicke has thrown for 6,663 yards, with 39 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. His career passer rating is 84.1.
Free agent nose tackle Naquan Jones has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chargers, his agent, Mike McCartney, announced on social media.
Jones, 27, spent the past season and a half in Arizona.
In 2024, Jones played 12 games with no starts and totaled a career-high three sacks, 27 tackles, four quarterback hits and two passes defensed. He played 260 defensive snaps and 55 on special teams.
Jones began his NFL career in Tennessee, spending 2 1/2 seasons with the Titans before joining the Cardinals. He started last season on the Dolphins’ practice squad before a return to Arizona.
In four seasons, Jones has recorded 89 tackles, 6.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits and 11 tackles for loss. He has appeared in 48 games with eight starts.
