Casey Hayward is sticking around Los Angeles for the foreseeable future. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter) that the Chargers have inked the cornerback to a three-year, $36MM extension. The deal includes $20MM in guaranteed money.
As Michael David Smith of ProFootballFocus.com points out, Hayward still had a year left on his contract, but the Chargers ultimately ripped up the old deal and locked their top cornerback up through 2020. Rapoport tweets that Hayward will earn $15.75MM in the first year of the contract. The Pro Bowler was set to account for a $5.1MM cap hit in 2018.
Following four seasons with the Packers, the 28-year-old has spent the past two years with the Chargers organization. After serving as a backup for most of his tenure in Green Bay, the former second-round pick has established himself as one of the top cornerbacks in the league during his time in San Diego and Los Angeles.
Since joining the organization, Hayward has earned a pair of Pro Bowl births and second-team All-Pro nods, and he’s collected 11 interceptions through two seasons. Pro Football Focus was particularly fond of Hayward’s performance in 2017, ranking him first among 120 eligible cornerbacks.
The Chargers seem relatively set at cornerback heading into next season. Besides Hayward, the team is also rostering Jason Verrett, Trevor Williams (ERFA), Michael Davis, Craig Mager, and Jeff Richards.
Some packer fans are screaming “why didn’t we resign him today?” Not understanding he wasn’t a free agent…
Another Ted Thompson failure. Let this guy walk 2 years ago and the team had absolutely no reliable defensive backs.
Boom. Big move. Now the 3 best players on that side of the ball are locked up long term (Hayward, Bosa, and Ingram)