Mike

Williams

The Chargers drafted Williams with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He spent his first seven seasons with the team before being released during the 2024 offseason. He had torn an ACL six months earlier, in September 2023. Williams spent the 2024 season playing for the Jets and later the Steelers, before ultimately finding his way back to the Chargers this offseason. He retires having caught 330-of-524 targets for 5,104 yards and 32 touchdowns. Williams was known as one of the NFL’s premier jump-ball wide receivers in his prime.

The report comes from The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, who gave no further details on the matter. Williams is unlikely to be a reliable fantasy option this year, in his age-30 season. Pending good health, he will haul in a few deep passes from time to time, though.

Players placed on the PUP list ahead of camp can come off at any time. Williams was dealing with an unspecified injury before the start of camp and was believed to be on track toward playing once camp kicked off. Clearly needing more time to recover, Williams will join WR Jaylen Johnson, S Elijah Molden, LB Del’Shawn Phillips, and OT Savion Washington on the PUP list as they continue to ready themselves for camp.

Neither Rhim nor Harbaugh specified the injury Williams is currently working through. Williams has been seen working off to the side during Chargers practices over the last two days. The Chargers are counting on Williams to win a couple of jump balls per game this year, and although he is unlikely to return top-36 positional value, he could show up for a few good games, if healthy.

Per Popper, “Johnston has been working consistently with the first-team offense” while rookie WRs Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith work through their “acclimation plan,” following time spent on the pre-draft “banquet circuit.” Mike Williams is also expected to "[push] Johnston for playing time on the outside.” We can’t put too much stock in Lal’s “starter” comments for Johnston, as he is effectively competing against himself at this point, but it appears as though he is at least in the No. 2 wide receiver role, rather than being immediately supplanted by Williams, who returned to the team back in March. Johnston could still have mild fantasy relevance if he can secure one of the Nos. 2 or 3 wide receiver roles.

Williams spent the first seven years of his career with the Chargers before playing for both the Jets and Steelers in 2024. His most recent season as a Charger, 2023, was shortened by an ACL tear in Week 3. He struggled to perform well last year, playing on a surgically repaired knee while learning two new playbooks in one season. While he may never return to his prior form, Williams’ return to Los Angeles and his reunion with Justin Herbert should yield improved box score performances. Williams will likely compete for the No. 3 role, with incumbent Quentin Johnston presumably operating in the No. 2 role.

The Chargers badly needed a field-stretching weapon after releasing Williams last offseason and never truly found one. Popper points out that Williams has a “built-in rapport with quarterback Justin Herbert from their four seasons together.” Williams would be a cheaper option than someone like Tee Higgins, who even if he is franchise tagged could be available in a trade. Williams could be a candidate for a rebound after a whirlwind season where a rehab-addled one-year deal with the Jets (along with Aaron Rodgers complaining about him) led to the receiver getting dealt to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.

Williams tore his ACL in Week 3 of the 2023 season. The Jets, looking to add playmakers for Aaron Rodgers, took a flyer on the veteran wideout with a one-year, $10 million contract in the following offseason. Williams never found his footing in New York and was eventually thrown under the bus by Rodgers for running the wrong route in a Week 6 loss to Buffalo. The team traded him to Pittsburgh a few weeks later. Williams never amounted to much in Pittsburgh, peaking at three catches for 36 yards in a single game. He ended the season with 21 catches for 298 yards and one score across the two teams. The veteran wideout should have suitors in free agency this spring, but he appears to be much more of a role-player than a starting wide receiver at this point in his career.

Williams saw modest playing time even without alpha George Pickens and with Ben Skowronek departing early with injury, making it likely we fail to see useful fantasy scores emerge from the veteran receiver the rest of the 2024 season. Pickens appears likely to return to the active roster for a Week 17 showdown with the 14-1 Chiefs, adding to those expectations.

Tomlin on Tuesday said Pickens’ hamstring injury — suffered during last Thursday’s practice — was more serious than first thought. “But when we got to the stadium, it was evident that maybe the circumstance was maybe a little more significant than we had hoped,” Tomlin said. “So, we made the prudent decision in terms of shutting him down and not allowing a small problem to become a bigger one.” It would appear that Pickens will miss at least one more game, and possibly more as the Steelers make their way toward a postseason berth. Mike Williams and Scotty Miller led the team with four targets last week against the Browns with Pickens sidelined as the Steelers dropped back on just 47 percent of their offensive snaps.