Chargers Clips
During a dozen years in Tampa, receiver Mike Evans has quietly pieced together a strong case for Canton. The next chapter could be coming with a new team.
Evans becomes a free agent on Monday. Two years ago, he re-signed with the Buccaneers before hitting the market.
Teammate Chris Godwin, who opted to stay with the Bucs during free agency a year ago, can’t process the possibility of Evans playing elsewhere.
“It would be so weird,” Godwin said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I can’t imagine talking to him on a different field and seeing him in a different jersey. . . .
’I hope that he’s here. I don’t know the intricacies of the deal. Everybody does their own thing. I don’t know what he’s willing to take and I don’t know what they’re willing to offer. But I hope that he’s back, for a lot of reasons, but he’s my brother.”
As Stroud notes, Evans will have interest elsewhere. Possibilities include the 49ers, Chargers, Commanders, and Giants.
It all comes down to money. Chances are that the terms already are in place, with the only thing standing in the way of the news breaking is the clock striking 12 on Monday afternoon.
Evans had 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons with the Buccaneers, tying him with Jerry Rice for the all-time record. (Evans holds the record for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to start a career.)
With 866 catches, 13,052 yards, and 108 touchdowns, Evans ranks 31st in career catches, 21st in receiving yards, and 10th in receiving touchdowns. He was a member of the team that won Super Bowl LV.
Whether he joins a new team or stays put in Tampa for at least another season will be known soon.
Veteran pass rusher Khalil Mack had planned to explore all options in free agency. Two days before free agency opened, Mack decided to stay where he has been for the last four years.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, Mack has agreed to terms with the Chargers on a one-year deal. Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, it’s a one-year, $18 million deal — fully guaranteed.
Mack, the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft, played four years with the Raiders before being traded to the Bears. After four seasons in Chicago, he was traded to the Chargers.
The nine-time Pro Bowler and 2016 defensive player of the year has 113.0 career sacks. He ranks sixth among all active players, and he’s tied with Sean Jones for 40th on the all-time list.
Although the deal was reached before free agency, Mack surely knew what else was out there before agreeing to terms, thanks to the rampant tampering in the days and weeks before the negotiating window opens, two days before the start of the new league year.
The Chargers signed center Tyler Biadasz on Friday and they also moved to hold onto three of their own players.
Running back Kimani Vidal has been tendered as an exclusive rights free agent. Vidal won’t be able to negotiate with other teams with the tender in place, so he’s set for another season in Los Angeles.
Vidal started 10 games for the Chargers in 2025 with Najee Harris and Omarion Hampton missing time due to injuries. He ran 155 times for 643 yards and three touchdowns in 13 overall appearances.
The Chargers also announced that they have re-signed running back Jaret Patterson and safety Kendall Williamson. Patterson ran 41 times for 159 yards and a score while Williamson had 14 tackles as a core special teams player.
There’s an interesting postscript to the news that former Commanders center Tyler Biadasz has agreed to terms with the Chargers.
Biadasz, contrary to published reports, never visited the Bears, per a source with knowledge of the situation.
Word of a Biadasz trip to Chicago emerged on Tuesday, not long after Bears starting center Drew Dalman, a 2025 Pro Bowler, abruptly and unexpectedly retired.
The timing and wording of the initial report made waves in some circles, given that it created the impression that the visit was happening before Biadasz was officially released by the Commanders. And while tampering is rampant in the NFL, blatant and obvious violations can quickly attract the attention of 345 Park Avenue.
In this case, there’s no there there. Biadasz never went to Chicago, even though the Bears still have an obvious need at a fairly important position on the offensive line.
The Chargers have found their new center.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Tyler Biadasz has agreed to a three-year deal with the team after visiting with them this week. The deal is worth $30 million.
Biadasz is available to sign with a team before the start of the new league year because he was released by the Commanders. He started all 31 games he played in Washington over the last two seasons.
The Chargers were in the market for a center after Bradley Bozeman announced his retirement last month. Biadasz was also linked with the Bears, who lost Drew Dalman to retirement and will now have to look for other options to fill the middle of their offensive line.
The Chargers are in need of a starting center, and Tyler Biadasz is available.
Biadasz is visiting with the team today, Daniel Popper of TheAthletic.com.
Veteran Bradley Bozeman retired earlier this week, leaving the Chargers looking for a new center. He started 33 of a possible 34 games the past two seasons.
The Commanders cut Biadasz this week, and he already has visited the Bears, who saw their center, Drew Dalman, retire. Biadasz was due to make $8.3 million in 2026, with a $1 million roster bonus due on April 1.
Biadasz spent the past two seasons with the Commanders, starting 31 games in Washington and 53 games over four seasons with the Cowboys. He landed on injured reserve in Week 18 with a knee and an ankle injury.
A fourth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2020, Biadasz made the Pro Bowl in 2022.
The Chargers released offensive guard Mekhi Becton and tight end Will Dissly on Wednesday, the team announced. In addition, the Chargers waived offensive tackle Savion Washington.
The release of Becton will save the Chargers $9.7 million on their 2026 salary cap, and Dissley’s departure delivers another $4 million. The team’s cap space is now around $98 million, per overthecap.com.
The Chargers signed Becton to a two-year, $20 million deal as a free agent last offseason. He was due a $2.5 million roster bonus on the third day of the 2026 new league year.
The team will need a starting right guard for 2026.
Dissly’s release leaves Oronde Gadsden as the only tight end currently under contract. Tyler Conklin is scheduled for free agency, and Tucker Fisk is a restricted free agent.
Dissley spent the past two seasons with the Chargers, catching 61 passes for 578 yards and two touchdowns. Most of that came in 2024 as Dissly missed eight games due to injuries last season and totaled only 11 receptions for 97 yards.
He spent six seasons with the Seahawks to start his career.
The Chargers made an early splash in free agency last year when they signed guard Mekhi Becton, but Becton is reportedly heading back to the open market this March.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the Chargers plan to release the veteran lineman in the coming days.
Becton signed a two-year deal with the Chargers last March, but the deal did not include any guaranteed money for the 2026 season. The Chargers would clear $9.7 million in cap room by cutting him and they’d be left with $2.5 million in dead money.
Becton appeared in 15 regular season games at right guard for the Chargers and he also started their playoff loss to the Patriots. The 2020 Jets first-round pick struggled with injuries early in his career, but won a starting job with the Eagles in 2024 and his work helping them to a Super Bowl win set him up for his deal with the Chargers.
There will be a veteran edge rusher on the free agent market.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Khalil Mack has no plans to retire and will explore all options in free agency.
Mack, 35, stayed with the Chargers on a one-year deal last year and played 12 games for the franchise in 2025, missing several weeks due to a dislocated elbow. He finished the season with 5.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, and 11 quarterback hits. He also forced four fumbles.
Rapoport also notes that keeping Mack is a priority for the Chargers.
The No. 5 overall pick of the 2014 draft, Mack has appeared in 179 career games with 177 starts. He’s recorded 113.0 sacks, 148 tackles for loss, and 196 quarterback hits for the Raiders, Bears, and Chargers.
While Mack’s injury kept him sidelined for a significant portion of last season, he is just two years removed from recording 17.0 sacks in 2023.
In the twelve days since the Dolphins released receiver Tyreek Hill, no other team has emerged as a serious suitor to sign him. During four days at the Scouting Combine, no one said anything to suggest that a pursuit of Hill was happening, or looming.
That makes it difficult, to say the least, to predict his next team. Guesses are nevertheless welcome, via a “next team” wager at DraftKings.
The Chiefs are the current favorites, at +150. Next are the Bills at +600, the Ravens at +700, and the Chargers at +800.
The Patriots, Raiders, and Rams are +1400. The Steelers, Giants, and Broncos are +1600. The 49ers have +1800 odds.
Last week, Chiefs coach Andy Reid provided a lukewarm (at best) assessment regarding a possible reunion, citing Hill’s current health. He continues to recover from a serious knee injury suffered against the Jets in Week 4.
"[W]e talk about everything,” Reid said. “So there’s nothing happening there, but we know what you know — that he’s out there and cranking away, trying to get himself back to where he can play, period.”
There’s another factor when it comes to Hill. As one source put it during our time in Indianapolis, it could be an even more important concern than his knee.
Hill remains the subject of a lingering Personal Conduct Policy investigation, arising from domestic violence allegations made by his estranged wife. And, at times, Hill has been hard to handle. Discontent in Kansas City, coupled with a desire for a new contract after Davante Adams signed with the Raiders in 2022, sparked a trade to Miami while Hill was still squarely in his prime. At the end of the 2024 season, Hill said it was time for him to leave the Dolphins. (He later embarked on a Super Bowl-week apology tour.)
When a player has elite skills, the other stuff can more easily be overlooked. When the skills begin to slip, it’s harder to ignore the factors that make a player less desirable.
At this point, Hill could become a player that teams will begin to seriously assess after free agency and the draft. Any team that hasn’t otherwise addressed the receiver position by early May could pivot to Hill.
For now, it seems as if most if not all teams are content to focus on other options. When the dust settles on the usual paths for adding new players, Hill’s status could come into better focus.
Still, the first question is when and if he’ll be healthy. The second question is whether a team is willing to embrace a player who could be facing a suspension, and who could have a hard time dealing with being anything other than the No. 1 receiver and, in turn, the focal point of the passing game.
Adams has embraced being second fiddle to Puka Nacua in L.A. Hill may need to accept that same kind of role — and to convince a prospective team that, when he says it, he means it.
