HEADLINES

Los Angeles Chargers News & Rumors

Chargers Re-Sign Damion Square

March 10th, 2017 at 7:17pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers have re-signed nose tackle Damion Square, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). It’s a two-year deal.

Damion Square (featured)

An undrafted free agent from Alabama in 2013, Square had brief stints with the Eagles and Chiefs before joining the Chargers in 2014. He made his debut with the Bolts in 2015 and has since logged 17 appearances and eight starts. Career highs in games (11) and starts (seven) came in 2016 for Square, who played 362 defensive snaps and posted personal bests in tackles (13) and sacks (2.5). His performance last year ranked a decent 58th among Pro Football Focus’ 127 qualified interior D-linemen.

Now that he’s staying with the Chargers, the 28-year-old Square will continue to function as depth behind Brandon Mebane and Corey Liuget. His emergence last season came after Mebane suffered a biceps injury.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/10/17

March 10th, 2017 at 11:30am CST by Ben Levine

Rounding up some of this week’s tender decisions:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Contract Details: Okung, Glennon, Simon

March 10th, 2017 at 8:43am CST by Ben Levine

Updates on several contracts signed this week…

  • There are “no tricks” in Russell Okung‘s new four-year, $53MM deal with the Chargers, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter). The offensive lineman received a $10MM signing bonus, and his guaranteed money will come via his 2017 $3MM base salary and 2018 $12MM base salary.
  • Mike Glennon‘s 2017 $8MM base salary with the Bears is fully guaranteed, tweets Adam Jahns of the Sun Times. Meanwhile, the quarterback’s $5MM roster bonus will kick in on the fifth day of the 2018 league year. Jahns adds that Glennon can earn an additional $2.5MM in bonuses based on playing time, wins, and individual performance. If he hits on these NLTBE incentives, his 2018 roster bonus will be voided.
  • Linebacker John Simon‘s new deal with the Colts is actually worth $14MM over three years, clarifies NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter). Simon will earn $6MM in guaranteed money, which will seemingly come via his 2017 salary.
  • Safety Jonathan Cyprien‘s deal with the Titans includes a $3MM signing bonus, reports ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky. The veteran will earn a $2MM base salary and $1MM roster bonus in 2017. He’ll be paid $4.5MM in 2018 and $5.5MM in 2019 and 2020.

Chargers To Re-Sign Andre Williams

March 9th, 2017 at 7:36pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Free agent running back Andre Williams has agreed to re-sign with the Chargers. Williams announced the news on Instagram.

Andre Williams

The 24-year-old Williams noted that he’ll have to earn a roster spot in Los Angeles, which isn’t surprising for a player who struggled to garner playing time last season. The Bolts claimed Williams off waivers in September, cut him three weeks later and then re-signed him as a practice squad member. He did end up appearing in one game with the club, in Week 17, and he impressed with 87 yards on 18 carries in the Chargers’ season-ending loss to the Chiefs.

A fourth-round pick out of Boston College in 2014, Williams spent the first two years of his career with the Giants. The bulk of his work came in his 16-game rookie campaign, during which he posted all seven of his career starts, scored seven rushing touchdowns and amassed 721 yards on 217 attempts. That only amounted to a 3.3 per-carry average for Williams, which matches his career mark in 323 tries.

Chargers To Sign Russell Okung

March 9th, 2017 at 4:39pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers will sign offensive tackle Russell Okung to four-year, $53MM deal, per Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). The pact contains $25MM guaranteed, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com.

Russell Okung (Vertical)

Los Angeles is stealing away a division rival’s left tackle in Okung, who previously negotiated his own contract last offseason when he left Seattle for Denver. His four-year, $48MM deal with the Broncos came with an escape clause for the team after 2016 that Denver took advantage of. Okung, to his credit, posted the first 16-start season of his seven-year career with the Broncos. The 29-year-old didn’t play at an especially high level, though, as Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a middling 38th among 78 qualified tackles.

In addition to the Chargers and Broncos, Okung had also been linked to the Vikings, Jets, Giants, Rams, and Seahawks. As such, Okung was able to parlay that level of interest into a deal that appears to be larger than his option would have provided. The total value is $5MM greater, and while we’ll have to wait for exact fully guaranteed figures, Okung was only set to earn $20.5MM guaranteed in his remaining Denver years.

The addition of Okung will likely lead to the release of incumbent Chargers left tackle King Dunlap. The 31-year-old is coming off his second straight injury-shortened campaign, having combined for 19 appearances (12 last season) since 2015. A four-year Charger, Dunlap has started in all 46 of his appearances with the club. If done as as a pre-June 1 designation, cutting Dunlap would save the Bolts $4.875MM and leave with $3.25MM in dead money.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/17

March 9th, 2017 at 2:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

Free Agency Rumors: Titans, Hightower, Rams

March 9th, 2017 at 12:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Let’s round up some of the latest free agency rumors:

  • The talk of the Titans pursuing linebacker Dont’a Hightower might not be at the levels some have reported, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. Hightower stands as one of the best free agents left on the board.
  • Not a huge surprise, but the Rams are not expected to bring back safety T.J. McDonald, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. I have McDonald ranked as the No. 40 free agent on my Top 50 list, in terms of earning power. He’s not my favorite safety in this year’s free agent crop, but he is young and his hard-hitting style should translate into dollars.
  • Despite formally declining his option on Thursday, the Chiefs have expressed interest in retaining quarterback Nick Foles, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
  • There are still plenty of teams sorting through the offensive tackle market, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. That list includes the Chargers, Jets, Vikings, Giants, and Broncos. It should be noted that JLC’s tweet came before Denver’s acquisition of Ronald Leary. It’s not immediately clear if they’re still looking for high-end linemen.
  • Russell Okung probably goofed by not having an agent last offseason, but he has one now, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Cole does not identify the rap by name, but says that he has talked with teams and is not NFLPA-certified.
  • Packers free agent guard T.J. Lang is likely going to have to take some trips before signing, Cole tweets. He had hip surgery in January and teams want to check that out before signing him. This jibes with earlier word that Lang will have to wait a bit before signing elsewhere.

Chargers To Re-Sign Kellen Clemens

March 9th, 2017 at 11:25am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers and quarterback Kellen Clemens are in agreement on a one-year deal, tweets freelance reporter Michael Gehlken.

Clemens, 33, will return for a fourth season as Philip Rivers‘ backup, a job that’s been among the league’s simplest in recent years. During his three-year run with the Chargers, Clemens has attempted all of 10 passes in relief of Rivers. A former second-round pick, Clemens does have 21 career starts to his name, all coming with the Jets and Rams.

Chargers Likely To Pursue Russell Okung

March 8th, 2017 at 6:09pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

While the Broncos would like to bring back left tackle Russell Okung, an AFC West rival could get in the way. The Chargers are likely to show “strong interest” in Okung when free agency opens Thursday, reports Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). Signing Okung would probably lead to the release of the Chargers’ current blindside starter, King Dunlap, tweets Michael Gehlken.

Russell Okung (Vertical)

The Chargers are the latest of several teams in the chase for Okung, who can’t talk to clubs during the legal tampering period because he doesn’t have an agent. However, there’s a belief among some teams and agents that the Bolts have been in contact with Okung’s advisor, former agent Jimmy Halsell, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. If true, the Chargers would be in violation of the NFL’s tampering rules.

Okung previously negotiated his own contract last offseason, when he left Seattle for Denver, but his four-year, $48MM deal with the Broncos came with an escape clause for the team after 2016. The Broncos took advantage of it and will try to bring him back at a lesser cost. Okung, to his credit, posted the first 16-start season of his seven-year career with the Broncos. The 29-year-old didn’t play at an especially high level, though, as Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a middling 38th among 78 qualified tackles.

The site was less kind to Dunlap, whom it rated 53rd. The 31-year-old is coming off his second straight injury-shortened campaign, having combined for 19 appearances (12 last season) since 2015. A four-year Charger, Dunlap has started in all 46 of his appearances with the club. If done as as a pre-June 1 designation, cutting Dunlap would save the Bolts $4.875MM and leave with $3.25MM in dead money.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/8/17

March 8th, 2017 at 2:44pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

  • Shiloh Keo will re-sign with a team for the second straight offseason. This year, the Saints made a move to re-up the safety, Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets. A former Texans draft pick, Keo caught on with the eventual 2015 Super Bowl champion Broncos late that season and re-signed in Denver in the subsequent offseason. The Broncos cut Keo while he was serving a two-game suspension for a personal conduct violation, leading to the Saints adding him. The 29-year-old defender played in 10 games for the Broncos and Saints in 2016 and recovered three fumbles while failing to record a tackle.
  • The Patriots are planning to re-sign tight end Michael Williams, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald tweets. Williams saw action for the 2015 Patriots but missed their latest Super Bowl season because of a torn ACL.
  • The Bills did not offer an RFA tender to punter Colton Schmidt but instead reached an agreement to re-sign him, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports. Rodak estimates Schmidt will be brought back at a lower cost instead of at the RFA low-round tender rate of nearly $2MM. A fourth-year player, Schmidt made $600K last season.
  • Another Bills transaction involves the team parting ways with a long-tenured wide receiver. Buffalo cut Marcus Easley, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. Affiliated with the Bills since they drafted him in the fourth round in 2010, Easley missed the entire 2016 season after suffering a severe knee injury late in the 2015 campaign. He spent several seasons as one of Buffalo’s top special-teamers. Buffalo announced the move as a post-June 1 release.
  • The Chargers have agreed to a four-year, $4.41MM extension with long snapper Mike Windt, tweets Michael Gehlken. Windt, who has appeared in 100 games with the Chargers, received a $600K signing bonus.
Load More Posts