Jets reportedly reach deal with former Charger Williams
The New York Jets agreed to terms with former Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams on a one-year contract, the Associated Press reported.
The 29-year-old Williams visited the Jets’ facility Tuesday and reportedly had meetings with other teams scheduled — but New York didn’t let him leave its building without a deal, which NFL Network reported is worth up to $15 million.
Williams gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers another playmaker as a complement to No. 1 wide receiver
Garrett Wilson in what could be a much-improved offense after the Jets ranked last or near the bottom of the NFL in several categories.
Along with Rodgers expecting to be fully healthy after tearing his left Achilles tendon four plays into his debut for New York, the Jets rebuilt their offensive line by signing left tackle Tyron Smith and left guard John
Simpson and acquiring
Morgan Moses from Baltimore in a trade last week.
Williams comes with some injury concerns, the most recent a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in the Chargers’ third game last season.
He had a strong start before the injury, catching 19 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown.
Williams also missed four games in 2022 because of an ankle injury and was sidelined for a playoff game at Jacksonville after he hurt his back in the finale at Denver. But after missing the first six games of his rookie season with a back ailment, Williams played in at least 15 games in each of the next four seasons.
Williams was released by the Chargers last week, a move that freed $20 million in salary cap space. The seventh overall pick out of Clemson in 2017 was entering the final year of a contract extension worth $60 million that included $40 million guaranteed before his release by the Chargers.
He has 309 catches for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns in 88 career games — and the Jets envision the 6foot-4 receiver as a fieldstretching and red zone presence who will take pressure and attention off Wilson.
Williams has 22 receptions of at least 40 yards since 2019, ranking him among the leaders in the AFC during that stretch.
Wilson, the 2022 offensive rookie of the year, had a team-leading 95 receptions for 1,042 yards and three touchdowns last season even with opponents keying in on him.
In other deals reported by AP: Detroit and Pro Bowl guard Kevin Zeitler agreed to a one-year contract . ... New Orleans agreed to a one-year contract with freeagent defensive end Chase Young. ... San Francisco agreed to a deal with quarterback Joshua Dobbs; terms were not available . ... Cleveland signed newly acquired receiver Jerry Jeudy to a three-year extension worth up to $58 million.
The College Football Playoff and ESPN announced a $7.8-billion deal that will give the network exand clusive rights to the expanded postseason through 2031, with the national championship game moving to ABC starting in 2026 . ... Clemson sued the Atlantic Coast Conference, joining Florida State in challenging the league’s right to charge schools $140 million to leave. ... The University of Maryland Baltimore County violated federal regulations by failing to protect students from sexual harassment and discrimination at the hands of the school’s former swim coach, Chad Craddock, a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found . ... Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg received a two-year extension through 2028-29.
Patrick Sandoval will start for the Angels in their season opener against Corbin Burnes, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner making his Baltimore debut. Miles Mikolas will pitch for St. Louis in its opener against the Dodgers . ... Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell San Francisco agreed to a $62-million, two-year contract, AP reported . ... Cincinnati center fielder TJ Friedl broke his right wrist on a diving play last Saturday.
Cleveland Cavaliers AllStar guard Donovan Mitchell could miss at least another week after breaking his nose last weekend . ... The U.S. men’s team will see Serbia and South Sudan in two of its three group-stage games at the Olympics, while the women will open their schedule in a goldmedal-game rematch against Japan.
As a critical California Horse Racing Board vote on Thursday approaches, 1/ST Racing, a subsidiary of the Stronach Group, made a not-so-veiled threat to consider selling or closing Santa Anita if the board authorizes racing in Northern California this year. Santa Anita believes it needs money reallocated from Northern California to make racing viable in Southern California.