Derwin James Receives Full Clearance
Injuries have sidetracked Derwin James‘ career, preventing the former first-round pick from building on his rookie-year All-Pro performance. The standout Chargers safety has played in five games since receiving that acclaim.
The Chargers still picked up James’ fifth-year option, however, and the fourth-year veteran is set to return to work. Brandon Staley said James has received full clearance to participate in workouts, via NFL.com’s Omar Ruiz (on Twitter). James suffered a torn meniscus during Bolts training camp last year, sidelining him for the entire 2020 season.
[RELATED: Chargers Exercise Derwin James’ Fifth-Year Option]
In 2019, a foot injury sidelined James for 11 games. The Florida State alum played 16 games as a rookie, delivering one of the best seasons by a first-year defender in NFL history. That helped the Chargers to a 12-4 record. The team has gone through some changes since, the Staley hire chief among them.
The Bolts entered last summer with four first- or second-team All-Pros in their secondary, but the group did not spend too much time playing together. Los Angeles lost Chris Harris for a chunk of last season, and Desmond King was traded ahead of the October deadline. Casey Hayward is now out of the picture as well. The Chargers, however, are on the verge of having the centerpiece of their secondary back at work. That should aid Staley’s effort to recharge the Bolts’ defense considerably.
James recorded 105 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions and tallied 13 passes defensed in 2018. The Chargers have been waiting for him to return to form for a while now. While the wait continues, James is back in position to contribute on the field.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/18/21
A roundup of today’s mid-round draft pick signings:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- DE/LB Jordan Smith (fourth round; UAB)
Los Angeles Chargers
- LB Chris Rumph II (fourth round; Duke)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- LB Buddy Johnson (fourth round; Texas A&M); OL Dan Moore Jr. (fourth round; Texas A&M)
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/18/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: K Jake Verity
- Waived: LS Brian Khoury
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: LB Julian Stanford
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: OL William Sweet
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Damion Willis
Los Angeles Chargers
- Claimed (from Vikings): WR Austin Proehl
New England Patriots
- Waived: OL Najee Toran
New Orleans Saints
- Placed on reserve/retired list: OL Alex Hoffman
- Re-signed: S Eric Burrell
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: OT Casey Tucker
Washington Football Team
- Claimed (from Cardinals): S Chris Miller
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/16/21
Both Los Angeles teams were busy locking up their later-round draft picks as we wrap up the weekend:
Los Angeles Chargers
- LB Nick Niemann (sixth-round; Iowa), DB Mark Webb (seventh-round; Georgia)
Los Angeles Rams
- DE Earnest Brown IV (fifth-round; Northwestern), RB Jake Funk (seventh-round; Maryland), WR Ben Skowronek (seventh-round; Notre Dame), LB Chris Garrett (seventh-round; Concordia St.-Paul)
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/15/21
Here are the latest rookies to agree to terms on their four-year contracts. The Steelers were busy on this front Saturday.
Houston Texans
- LB Garret Wallow (fifth round; TCU)
Los Angeles Chargers
- RB Larry Rountree (sixth round; Missouri)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- DT Isaiahh Loudermilk (fifth round; Wisconsin), LB Quincy Roche (sixth round; Miami), CB Tre Norwood (seventh round; Oklahoma), P Pressley Harvin III (seventh round; Georgia Tech)
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/13/21
Today’s late round signings:
Buffalo Bills
- G Jack Anderson (seventh-round; Texas Tech), OL Tommy Doyle (fifth-round; Miami Ohio), WR Marquez Stevenson (sixth-round; Houston), CB Rachad Wildgoose (sixth-round; Wisconsin)
Carolina Panthers
- DT Daviyon Nixon (fifth-round; Iowa), CB Keith Taylor (fifth-round; Washington), OL Deonte Brown (sixth-round; Alabama), Thomas Fletcher (sixth-round; Alabama), WR Shi Smith (sixth-round; South Carolina), DT Phil Hoskins (seventh-round; Kentucky)
Cleveland Browns
- RB Demetric Felton (sixth round; UCLA), LB Tony Fields II (fifth-round; West Virginia), S Richard LeCounte (fifth round; Georgia)
Dallas Cowboys
- DT Quinton Bohanna (sixth round; Kentucky) WR Simi Fehoko (fifth round; Stanford), OL Matt Farniok (seventh-round; Nebraska), DB Israel Mukuamu (sixth-round; South Carolina)
Denver Broncos
- S Jamar Johnson (fifth round; Indiana), DL Marquiss Spencer (seventh round; Mississippi State)
Detroit Lions
- DT Alim McNeill (third round; North Carolina State)
Green Bay Packers
- OL Cole Van Lanen (sixth-round; Wisconsin), RB Kylin Hill (seventh-round; Mississippi State)
Kansas City Chiefs
- DE Joshua Kaindoh (fourth-round; Florida State), WR Cornell Powell (fifth-round; Clemson), TE Noah Gray (fifth-round; Duke), OL Trey Smith (sixth-round; Tennessee)
Los Angeles Chargers
- OL Brenden Jaimes (fifth-round; Nebraska)
Miami Dolphins
- OL Larnel Coleman (seventh-round; UMass), RB Gerrid Doaks (seventh-round; Cincinnati)
Minnesota Vikings
- WR/KR Ihmir Smith-Marsette (fifth-round; Iowa), DL Jaylen Twyman (sixth-round; Pittsburgh), TE Zach Davidson (fifth-round; Central Missouri
New England Patriots
- S Joshuah Bledsoe (sixth-round; Missouri)
San Francisco 49ers
- OL Jaylon Moore (fifth-round; Western Michigan), CB Deommodore Lenoir (fifth-round; Oregon), S Talanoa Hufanga (fifth-round; USC), RB Elijah Mitchell (sixth-round; Louisiana)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- LB K.J. Britt (fifth-round; Auburn), CB Chris Wilcox (seventh-round; BYU), LB Grant Stuard (seventh-round; Houston)
Washington Football Team
- CB Benjamin St-Juste (third-round; Minnesota), S Darrick Forrest (fifth-round; Cincinnati), DE Shaka Toney (seventh-round; Penn State)
Chargers, Asante Samuel Jr. Agree To Deal
The Chargers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Asante Samuel Jr. (Twitter link via agent David Canter). Per the terms of his slot, the Florida State cornerback will earn just over $7MM on his four-year deal. 
The Bolts nabbed Samuel at No. 47 overall, though he was projected by many to go in the first round. Samuel’s lack of size may have hurt his stock, but he was a first-team All-ACC selection last year with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries in just eight games. And, in 2019, he notched 14 passes defensed.
Now, he figures to be a key part of Brandon Staley’s first Chargers defense, especially with Casey Hayward out of the picture. Meanwhile, he’ll also learn from fellow FSU alum Derwin James.
With one down, the Chargers still have eight more draft picks to sign:
- Round 1: No. 13 Rashawn Slater, OT (Northwestern)
- Round 3: No. 77 Josh Palmer, WR (Tennessee)
- Round 3: No. 97 Tre’ McKitty, TE (Georgia)
- Round 4: No. 118 Chris Rumph II, LB (Duke)
- Round 5: No. 159 Brendan James, OT (Nebraska)
- Round 6: No. 185 (from Jaguars through Titans) Nick Niemann, LB (Iowa)
- Round 6: No. 198 Larry Rountree III, RB (Missouri)
- Round 7: No. 241 Mark Webb, S (Georgia)
Chargers To Sign Christian Covington
The Chargers are adding some depth to their defensive line. Los Angeles has agreed to terms with free agent defensive tackle Christian Covington, his agent David Canter announced on Twitter.
The Chargers previously had Linval Joseph, but not much else at defensive tackle. With Melvin Ingram leaving in free agency, their defensive front depth as a whole had been looking pretty thin. Covington was drafted by the Texans in the sixth-round back in 2015, and became a solid contributor and part-time starter in Houston.
In his final season with the Texans in 2018 he had his best year as a pass-rusher, racking up 3.5 sacks coming up the middle in only 12 games. He signed a one-year deal with Dallas in 2019, then a one-year $1.75MM contract with the Broncos last offseason.
He never ended up playing a game for Denver, as the Broncos traded him to the Bengals right before the start of last season. He appeared in all 16 games for Cincy, starting 14, and notching a career-high 39 tackles. The folks over at Pro Football Focus gave him middling grades for his work. He’ll turn 28 in October.
Panthers To Audition Washington QB Kevin Thomson
Washington quarterback Kevin Thomson will join the Panthers for their rookie minicamp next week, as NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Thomson, who had previous stops at UNLV and Sacramento State, opted to turn pro this year over an eighth year of college eligibility.
Thomson, who turns 26 in September, was on track to win the Huskies’ starting job in 2020. Instead, an undisclosed injury (believed to be his ribs) sidelined him to start the year. It was familiar territory for Thomson, who battled through back issues and other maladies throughout his collegiate career.
After that, redshirt freshman Dylan Morris held on to the job for the rest of the pandemic-shortened slate. Thomson went undrafted as a result, but the Panthers quickly reached out on Day 3. Now older than Patrick Mahomes, he’ll fight for a spot on the Panthers’ depth chart behind Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker, Will Grier, and Tommy Stevens.
“When I was at UNLV going into my second year, I had Tommy John surgery. It put me out for several months and gave me time to reflect on what I really wanted and made me realize how passionate I was about football and how I wanted to continue to pursue it,” Thomson said recently (via Yahoo Sports). “I knew it would take a tremendous amount of work to get where I wanted to be, but I was willing to do that. So I think the injury really made me a better player overall since it forced me to do some self-reflection.”
Per Pelissero, these undrafted QBs will also show their stuff at rookie minicamps later this month:
- Mississippi State’s K.J. Costello (Chargers)
- Tulsa’s Zach Smith (Bills)
- Memphis’ Brady White (Titans)
- Monmouth’s Kenji Bahar (Ravens)
- San Jose State’s Josh Love (Browns; 2020 UDFA who spent last offseason with Rams)
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/6/21
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: WR Juwan Green
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: CB Will Sunderland
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: G Marquel Harrell
Los Angeles Chargers
- Claimed (from Cowboys): DB Kemon Hall
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DT Albert Huggins, WR Easop Winston
New York Jets
- Waived: CB Kyron Brown
Seattle Seahawks
- Claimed (from Cowboys): CB Saivion Smith
- Signed: TE Nick Guggemos
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Claimed (from Cowboys): LB Ladarius Hamilton
- Signed: CB Nate Brooks
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Justin March-Lillard, CB Greg Mabin, RB Brian Hill
- Waived: CB Kareem Orr