Chargers To Re-Sign Donald Brown

The Chargers have re-signed Donald Brown, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Brown was released by San Diego over the weekend but he has quickly circled back to the team. As a vested veteran, Brown did not have to pass through waivers.

Brown signed a three-year, $10.5MM deal with the Bolts in 2014, but missed three games due to injury last season and was usurped by undrafted free agent Branden Oliver. At the time of his release, the Chargers didn’t seem to have a spot for the former Colts first-round pick, with Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead atop the depth chart and Oliver seeing carries behind them.

The 28-year-old Brown was due $3MM this season in base salary and carried a $4.83MM cap number under his old contract – the largest among San Diego running backs and the eighth-highest figure on the Chargers. He averaged just 2.6 yards per carry last season after netting 5.3 per tote in 2013, a season when he recorded a career-high six touchdowns. The ex-Connecticut standout has $2.17MM in dead money on the Chargers’ books this season and $1.08MM in 2016. One would imagine that Brown’s new deal is for less money, but San Diego likely had to re-sign him at his previous $3MM salary due to termination pay rules, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap tweets.

In a corresponding move, the Chargers announced that they have parted ways with offensive lineman Michael Ola. The Chargers promoted the guard on Saturday when they released Brown.

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