Chargers release WR Mike Williams after seven seasons

The Los Angeles Chargers’ top-heavy roster required tweaking to become salary-cap compliant ahead of the NFL’s new league year on Wednesday.

To get under the cap, the Chargers released wide receiver Mike Williams, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported, per sources informed of the situation. The team later confirmed the news.

Williams was due to count $32.46 million against the cap in 2024 — the final year of a three-year, $60 million contract signed in 2022. His release saves the club $20 million on the salary cap.

Rapoport noted that the Chargers would like to bring Williams back, but the wideout is expected to test the market.

When healthy, Williams is a field-stretching force who owns the size-speed combo to make life miserable on defenses. However, he missed 18 games over the past two seasons. Williams played just three games in 2023 before suffering a torn ACL. In 2022, he missed four regular-season games and the Chargers’ playoff loss due to injury. In seven years with L.A., Williams has played a full-season slate once.

When he’s on the field, the 6-foot-4 wideout is a big-play generator. Since 2018, Williams leads the NFL with 15.8 yards per reception (minimum 250 catches). From 2018-2023, 22.1% of Williams’ targets came from deep passes, per Next Gen Stats (fifth-highest percentage among players with at least 250 targets).

The Chargers offense noticeably missed Williams’ big-play ability when he was off the field. However, the cap hit made him a commodity the cap-strapped Chargers couldn’t afford to keep at that price.

In a league always searching for explosives, Williams should find a market. He profiles as a player who could receive a one-year contract with incentives, given he’s coming off injury.