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Minor NFL Transactions: 7/22/25

July 22nd, 2025 at 8:42pm CST by Ben Levine

With training camps kicking off around the NFL, teams continue to make adjustments to their rosters. Here are today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Waived: DT Dante Barnett
  • Placed on active/NFI: RB Zack Moss

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: K Mark McNamee

Houston Texans

  • Waived: CB Keydrain Calligan

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Waived: OT Savion Washington

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Waived: OT Obinna Eze

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

RB Nyheim Hines To Make NFL Return With Chargers

July 21st, 2025 at 10:06pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Veteran running back Nyheim Hines is returning to the NFL with the Chargers, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Hines has not played since the 2022 season after tearing his ACL in a freak jet skiing accident in July 2023. He signed with the Browns last offseason and practiced for three weeks in October before being shut down for the year. Now, he will finally get back on the field in Los Angeles.

“It’s been a long road back,” said Hines (via The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson). “I’ve watched [the Chargers] my whole life because of Philip Rivers, and always have liked the team. I also think I’ve fit their system for years, so I’m excited for this opportunity.”

Originally a 2018 fourth-round pick by the Colts, Hines immediately carved out a third-down role as a rookie and became one of the most consistent receiving backs in the league, logging at least 40 receptions and 300 receiving yards in each of his first four season. He signed a three-year, $18.6MM extension with the Colts in 2021 before being dealt to the Bills at the 2022 trade deadline. Hines did not have much of an impact in Buffalo, and his offseason injury has kept him on the sidelines since.

Now, Hines will join a young Chargers running back room as its oldest player. Veteran free agent signing Najee Harris is set to lead the group – once he recovers from a freak injury of his own – and the team hopes first-round pick Omarion Hampton can be an effective change-of-pace back and build on his impressive 2024 season as a ballcarrier and pass-catcher.

However, Harris’ receiving numbers in Pittsburgh were inflated by constant checkdowns by a rotating cadre of Steelers’ quarterbacks, and Jim Harbaugh may not trust a rookie to protect Justin Herbert on third downs. In addition to his desire to contribute as a returner, Hines could have a path to a role in Los Angeles as a pass-catching back who, in his career, has more targets (309) than carries (306) and more yards through the air (1,778) than on the ground (1,202).

First, he will have to prove that he is all the way back from his knee injury. Hines was healthy enough in May to work out for the Texans, and his signing in Los Angeles indicates that his medical passed muster.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/20/25

July 20th, 2025 at 5:38pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor NFL moves to close out the weekend:

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

Olajiga, a London native, joins the roster as part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program. The 27-year-old spent the 2024 season on the Rams’ practice squad as an IPP athlete, as well, but didn’t find his way to the field.

Keenum, Johnson, and Molden all passed physicals today, permitting their respective teams to active them off of their injured lists.

AFC Staff Updates: Dolphins, Chargers, Chiefs

July 19th, 2025 at 5:53pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins made a move on their offensive staff this week, promoting senior offensive assistant Chandler Henley to run game specialist, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

A Yale graduate like his head coach, Henley initially worked in sales for IBM and Google. On the side, though, he worked as a part-time researcher for NBC’s Football Night in America. He first got into coaching at Vanderbilt, stating as an offensive/recruiting graduate assistant before getting promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach. He left for the tight ends coaching job at his alma mater, leaving again three years later for an opportunity in the NFL.

Henley joined the Titans in 2018 as a quality control coach working primarily with the offensive line. In 2021, he was hired as assistant offensive line coach of the Falcons, before joining the Dolphins the following year as assistant quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to his most recent position just last year and will serve under his third title in Miami for the 2025 season.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC:

  • ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported yesterday that the Chargers have hired Chuka Ndulue as their new assistant defensive line coach. Ndulue spent the 2024 season as assistant coach and defensive line coach at Colorado State. A standout defensive lineman at Oklahoma, Ndulue signed as an undrafted free agent with the Broncos in 2015. His two years in the NFL as a player also saw him with the Chargers, but he never saw game time with either team. He returned to his alma mater in 2017 to volunteer as an assistant for the defensive line. The next year, he joined Nebraska as a graduate assistant for the defensive line and got his first full defensive line coaching job with FCS Southern Illinois in 2019. After three years with the Salukis, Ndulue coached the same position group at New Mexico State for two years before landing in Fort Collins. Now, he’ll head to Los Angeles to once again make the jump from collegiate football to the NFL, this time as a coach.
  • Finally, shifting from coaching staffs to front office, the Chiefs announced some new hires as the head into camp. In analytics, Sarah Pollack was named as a football data science fellow. In the scounting department, Curtis McGhee, Brayden Nagy, and Ryan O’Connor were named player personnel interns. Nagy is the son of the team’s offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy.

Chargers WR Mike Williams To Retire

July 17th, 2025 at 10:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

Mike Williams will not, in fact, see the field during his second stint with the Chargers. The veteran wideout is instead ending his career.

Williams’ agent informed the Chargers last night that his client is retiring, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. As a result, Williams will depart the NFL at the age of 30. He spent eight years in the league, the first seven of which came as a member of the Bolts.

Five players opened training camp on the active/PUP list for Los Angeles. Williams was among them, but players can be activated from that list at any time before final roster cuts are made and those situations often include relatively minor ailments. Even in the event Williams would have been forced to remain on the PUP list through the first month of the campaign, returning to action at some point would have represented much less of a surprise than today’s news.

Selected seventh overall by the Chargers in 2017, Williams made a minimal impact as a rookie. From Year 2 onward, though, he established himself as one of the league’s top deep threats. Williams averaged an NFL-best 20.4 yards per reception in 2019 while reaching 1,000 yards. He managed a career-best 1,146 yards two years later while thriving as a complementary wideout to Keenan Allen.

Just like Allen, Williams found himself playing elsewhere in 2024. One of general manager Joe Hortiz‘s decisions during his first offseason in charge was to move on from the pair and thus reset financially at the WR position. Williams was released in a cost-shedding move, one which was quickly followed by a one-year Jets agreement. Things did not go according to plan in New York, with the Clemson product only logging a 53% snap share and making 12 scoreless catches.

A trade took place ahead of the deadline to send Williams to the Steelers. Pittsburgh was known to be in the market for a receiver addition, and he made 10 combined regular and postseason appearances with his new team. Aside from catching a touchdown during his Steelers debut, however Williams was largely a non-factor with the team. As a result, a lucrative free agent market did not exist this spring.

A Chargers reunion was worked out in March; Williams returned on a one-year pact worth a guaranteed $3MM (including a $1.5MM signing bonus). As the team contemplates attempting to get that money back, it will proceed without an experienced pass-catching option. Second-round rookie Tre Harris is among those holding out for full guarantees in his rookie deal, so for the time being the Chargers are notably shorthanded at the receiver spot. With over $27MM in cap space, Hortiz can target an addition from within the free agent pool (which still includes Allen) in time for the start of the year.

In all, Williams made 109 combined regular and postseason appearances during his career. He amassed over $86MM in earnings during his time in the NFL, something which has now come to a close.

NFL Minor Transactions: 7/17/25

July 17th, 2025 at 8:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: OT Ryan Nelson

Seattle Seahawks

Chargers Agree To Terms With Second-Round WR Tre Harris

July 17th, 2025 at 7:11pm CST by Ben Levine

While Tre Harris was one of many second-round picks to remain unsigned through mid-July, the rookie made headlines when he was a no-show during the start of Chargers training camp. Well, the unofficial holdout is over, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the rookie wideout has agreed to terms on his rookie deal.

Harris spent three seasons at Louisiana Tech to begin his college career, including a 2022 campaign where he compiled 935 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He maintained that production after transferring to Ole Miss ahead of the 2023 season. In 20 games across the past two campaigns, the wideout hauled in 114 catches for 2,015 yards and 15 touchdowns.

That performance wasn’t enough to vault him into the first round, but he still managed to be the seventh WR off the board when the Chargers selected him with the 55th-overall pick in this year’s draft. The recent holdout meant Harris’s NFL career didn’t get off to the best start, but since he wasn’t under contract, he won’t be subject to any fines from the organization.

Harris should immediately have an opportunity to contribute in Los Angeles. The team has used early-round picks at the WR position in each of the past three drafts, and the rookie should join Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston in the starting lineup. Harris should also have a bit less competition for that gig following Mike Williams‘ sudden retirement, a move that left the Chargers with the likes of Jalen Reagor, Derius Davis, and rookie fifth-round pick KeAndre Lambert-Smith as depth options.

Like most teams, the Chargers’ second-round selection represented their only unsigned draft pick. With today’s move, the team has officially signed their entire 2025 draft class:

Chargers Place RB Najee Harris On NFI List

July 17th, 2025 at 11:10am CST by Sam Robinson

JULY 17: As expected, Harris will indeed open camp on the active/NFI list. The Chargers officially moved him to the list on Thursday. Further clarity on his recovery timeline will likely come about once the team’s staff evaluates the extent of the injury.

JULY 16: Najee Harris‘ injury sustained in a fireworks accident will delay his start to Chargers training camp. Although the free agency addition is expected to begin the season on time, his work with his new team is on hold.

The Chargers are expected to place Harris on their NFI list, GM Joe Hortiz said (via The Athletic’s Daniel Popper). Harris will land on Los Angeles’ active/NFI list, a training camp-only designation. The Chargers do not need to decide on a reserve/NFI list placement — which requires a four-game absence — for more than a month.

The former Steelers 1,000-yard back has never missed a game as a pro, and early expectations point to that durability persisting into Year 5. Harris suffered an eye injury earlier this month and has been receiving treatment at Stanford, Popper adds. He will soon begin working with Chargers doctors at the team facility. That said, Hortiz added (via ESPN.com’s Kris Rhim) neither he nor the team’s medical staff have seen the extent of Harris’ injury.

“Surface-level injury,” Hortiz said, via Rhim. “Obviously around the eye, so I’m sure there’s bruising and all that. We haven’t seen him, so we’ll get more clarity when he gets in here and our doctors see him.”

An NFI stay to open camp would cover this issue, as Harris was injured in a non-football activity. The active/PUP list covers football-related health issues heading into camp; Harris has not seen any of those keep him off the field as a pro. Harris was 68-for-68 in regular-season attendance in Pittsburgh, playing in all the Steelers’ playoff games during this period as well. He delivered four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons, splitting time with Jaylen Warren for much of his tenure.

Even as Harris proved reliable in Pittsburgh, the former first-rounder never posted a 1,200-yard rushing season and did not command a big market. The Chargers added him on a one-year deal that included $5.25MM in base value. They then used a first-round pick on North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton, the consensus second-best back in the draft. Harris’ placement on the active/NFI list will give Hampton more time to work with the Chargers’ first-stringers. Veterans reported to Bolts camp Wednesday.

Daiyan Henley Full Go At Chargers’ Camp; Junior Colson In Mix To Start

July 16th, 2025 at 5:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Daiyan Henley played just 53 defensive snaps as a rookie. By his second season, the 2023 third-round pick moved into the Chargers’ defensive signal-caller role as an every-down linebacker — for a defense that made a substantial leap.

The Bolts have Henley signed for two more seasons, and they re-signed 2024 regulars Denzel Perryman and Troy Dye this offseason. But the internal preference may be for those veterans to provide insurance in part-time roles. This would clear a path for a Henley-like ascent from 2024 third-round pick Junior Colson.

Playing for Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter at Michigan, Colson could not establish himself as a rookie-year starter. He logged 218 defensive snaps, ceding time to Perryman (11 starts) and Dye (five). Colson made one start, but if he has a solid training camp, that status should be expected to change in Year 2. He enters this year’s Bolts camp as the player to watch at linebacker, per The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, who notes the ex-Wolverines cog has a route to being an impactful 2025 starter.

Harbaugh drafted two of his Wolverines last year, adding wide receiver Cornelius Johnson in Round 7. Johnson is no longer on the roster, but three years remain on Colson’s rookie contract. Although Colson did not prove ready as a rookie, he saw two health issues impede him. An appendectomy led to missed camp time, and an ankle injury led him to IR during the season. The Chargers used an IR activation on Colson in December, and he returned to a part-time role during that stretch.

Henley’s climb from rookie afterthought — in Brandon Staley‘s abbreviated final season — to green-dot player in a year’s time provides encouragement for a Chargers team that got plenty from an unspectacular defensive cast last season. The team giving Perryman a one-year, $2.7MM deal — ahead of his age-33 season — and keeping Dye at two years, $5.5MM do not stand to block Colson if he proves ready over the next several weeks (the Chargers also did not draft an off-ball LB this year). The Bolts, who jumped from 24th in scoring defense in Staley’s finale to first in Minter’s debut, would then have two starting LBs at rookie-scale rates.

A labrum tear did not disrupt Henley’s ascent last season, but the former Nevada and Washington State ‘backer addressed the issue via offseason surgery. While a few Bolts landed on the active/PUP list to open camp, Henley was not one of them. Henley said this week he is full go entering his third NFL camp.

Nikhil Mehta contributed to this post.

Chargers RB Najee Harris Injured In Fireworks Incident

July 14th, 2025 at 9:40pm CST by Ben Levine

July 14: Harris avoided a significant injury, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, but he may not be ready for the start of Chargers training camp on Thursday. Rapoport said that Harris “will be on the field sooner rather than later,” adding that his availability for the start of the season is not under question.

Missing a few early practices is unlikely to affect Harris’ status in the Chargers’ running back room, but it will afford Hampton the opportunity to take RB1 reps in his absence.

July 10: Chargers running back Najee Harris was injured during a Fourth of July fireworks accident, according to Rick Hurd, Nate Gartrell, and Darren Sabedra of The Mercury News. The running back’s agent, Doug Hendrickson, released a statement assuring that his client only suffered superficial injuries and will be good to go for the 2025 campaign.

“Najee Harris was present at a 4th of July event where a fireworks mishap resulted in injuries to several attendees,” Hendrickson said in his statement (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). “Najee sustained a superficial eye injury during the incident, but is fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season.”

There were a handful of recent online rumors surrounding Harris and a fireworks incident. Fortunately, many of those rumblings proved to be overblown, as the veteran RB apparently managed to avoid a serious injury. According to The Mercury News, other individuals were hurt in the accident, although the severity of those injuries hasn’t been revealed.

Of course, any fireworks incident will bring back memories of Jason Pierre-Paul, who suffered a serious hand injury during a 2015 accident. That incident required the pass rusher to have his right index finger amputated. To JPP’s credit, the defender played another nine seasons following that injury.

After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Steelers, Harris joined the Chargers this offseason. The RB hasn’t necessarily lived up to his first-round billing, although he has managed to top 1,000 rushing yards in each of his four NFL seasons. Harris is expected to lead the RB room in 2025, although the Chargers did use a first-round pick on North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton.

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