Team news: Los Angeles Chargers

Running back Nyheim Hines has found a place to continue his NFL career.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Hines has agreed to sign with the Chargers. Hines has not played since suffering a serious leg injury in a jet ski accident in July 2023.

Related players: Najee Harris, Omaarion Hampton

Hines was playing for the Bills at the time of his injury and signed with the Browns last year, but never came off of the non-football injury list while in Cleveland, the story went on to say.
Harris is currently on the non-football injury list after suffering an eye injury in a fireworks accident and Hampton is a rookie, but both are still expected to lead the way in the backfield this season for the Chargers. It's possible Hines, if healthy, could carve out a role in the passing game.

Holdout over: Tre Harris has now agreed to terms and will sign his rookie contract, sources say.

Related Players: Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Jalen Reagor, KeAndre Lamber-Smith, Derius Davis

That lasted all of five days, and comes on the heels of Mike Williams' retirement earlier today. Harris will now use training camp to attempt to climb his way to the top of the depth chart and work as Justin Herbert's main outside option.

Sources: Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams’ agent Tory Dandy informed the team last night that, after eight seasons, his client is retiring from the NFL. Williams walks away from the game at age 30.

Related Players: Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Tre Harris, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Derius Davis

This comes as quite a shock, but the veteran was set to hit PUP heading into training camp, and either the injury was more severe than we thought or Williams didn't want to deal with another stint on the sidelines after missing so much of 2023 with a torn ACL. Tre Harris is still unsigned as of this news, which could put Quentin Johnston back in line to operate as the main WR2 once again. It's hard to see McConkey getting any more of a target share after his massive rookie output, but that could very well be the case.

Chargers GM Joe Hortiz said Najee Harris (eye) will likely begin training camp on NFI. Harris is expected to report to The Bolt later today, per Hortiz. Harris has been receiving treatment from doctors at Stanford.

Related Players: Omarion Hampton, Kimani Vidal

NFL reporter Ian Rapoport followed up this report by saying "it's expected to be a short stint." We'll see if that's the case, but if this is a superficial injury, you wouldn't expect him to be missing much time. As it stands, Hampton's ADP continues to climb and that may have been the case regardless of this incident.

Najee becomes more interesting the further his ADP dips, but the rookie is really projecting as a legit fantasy RB2.

Los Angeles Chargers running back Najee Harris sustained a superficial eye injury at a Fourth of July event but is expected to be ready for the 2025 NFL season, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Thursday.

Harris' agent, Doug Hendrickson, said a fireworks mishap resulted in injuries to his client and multiple people attending the event.

"Najee Harris was present at a 4th of July event where a fireworks mishap resulted in injuries to several attendees," Hendrickson said in a statement, via Rapoport. "Najee sustained a superficial eye injury during the incident, but is fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season."

Related Players: Omarion Hampton, Hassan Haskins, Kimani Vidal

Harris is "likely" to miss the start of training camp, but that's about all the follow-up news we've been allotted to this point. Hampton was already going to give the veteran a run for his money, but the rookie could very well end up as the lead back heading into Week 1, and if it goes well, he might not give it up. He is currently projected as a fantasy RB2.

Former Jets TE Tyler Conklin reached agreement on a one-year deal with the Chargers.

Related Players: Will Dissly

While it's certainly not a bad situation to land in, the Chargers will very likely use plenty of 2-TE sets, and it's not out of the question that they add some more talent through the Draft. Conklin projects as someone we can ignore in typical redraft leagues but he may be someone to keep in eye out for streaming purposes in a pinch.

Reunion: Veteran WR Mike Williams is returning to the Chargers on a one-year deal worth up to $6 million, per source.

Related Players: Ladd McConkey, D.J. Chark, Quentin Johnston

This is a nice low-risk offer to get a pure X receiver back for Justin Herbert. With Williams lining up out wide in the 80% range, even if he comes back as the team's No. 2 option, it shouldn't have much of an impact on McConkey, but it could push Johnston back into more of a complementary role after his high-usage 2024 season.

Williams should stick back in the WR4/5 range for fantasy purposes.

Source: Chargers reached agreement with former Steelers RB Najee Harris on a one-year deal worth up to $9.25 million.

Related Players: J.K. Dobbins, Hassan Haskins, Kimani Vidal

It's hard to think of a better landing spot, as Harris will add a little more oomph to Gus Edwards' three-yards-and-dust role. Dobbins is likely going to come back on a more player-friendly deal than he got in '24, but that shouldn't make too much of an impact on Harris as an early-down grinder. Consider the new Charger a volume-based RB3 at the moment.

As expected, the Steelers have placed a second-round RFA tender on RB Jaylen Warren, his agents told NFL Network.

Related Players: Najee Harris, Cordarrelle Patterson

This ensures that Warren will be back in Pittsburgh unless a team gives up a second-round draft pick, which won't be happening. We'll have to wait and see if the team makes anymore news in the backfield (namely, Najee), but Warren should be considered a back-end RB3 as it stands.

The Chargers are activating RB J.K. Dobbins from IR and he’ll make his return Saturday against the Patriots.

One of the NFL’s most efficient backs, Dobbins is averaging 4.8 yards per carry this season. A big boost for L.A.’s stretch run.

Related Players: Kimani Vidal

With Gus Edwards already ruled out of this game, we would expect Dobbins to return to a pretty sizable workload. Consider him a low-end RB2 against the Patriots.