Should the LA Chargers cut Mike Williams in 2021?

The LA Chargers already extended Mike Williams his fifth-year first-round option, but should they rescind and cut the wideout?

The LA Chargers are going to be in an interesting situation in the upcoming offseason. The team has some salary cap situations to solve as they may have to cut some underperforming players to save money.

According to Over the Cap, the Chargers have the seventh-most cap space in the NFL heading into 2021. The problem is that the team has only 34 players on the roster and has several key free agents, such as Hunter Henry, Melvin Ingram, Michael Davis and Rayshawn Jenkins, among others.

Those players, mixed with the 2021 draft class, are going to eat away at the cap. If the team wants to make any sort of addition in the offseason, which is needed, then they are going to have to waive players with small dead cap hits. Names such as Trai Turner and Casey Hayward come to mind.

There is another potential candidate in Mike Williams. Williams is playing under his fifth-year rookie option in 2021 that is worth $15.6 million. If they cut him before June 1, there is no dead cap hit.

After the great showing from Tyron Johnson on Thursday night football and the fact that Williams has not been able to stay healthy, it has become a legitimate question of whether or not the LA Chargers should cut him next season.

The answer?

No, the LA Chargers should not cut Mike Williams.

Now, I do not want to fully commit to this being a concrete no but as it stands right now, I don’t see the value in cutting Mike Williams, let me explain.

There are other areas that the Chargers could get salary-cap relief and even if the team wanted to make additions, they are not going to be in the market for any big-name signing, anyway. As injury-prone as Williams is, he is still more productive than Hayward and more healthy than Turner.

There is absolutely no way that the Chargers trade Williams, so that is not an option. Not team is going to acquire one-year of an injury-prone wide receiver at $15 million. Even if they did, the best the Chargers would get would be a fifth-round pick, which isn’t even worth it at that point.

If the Chargers have someone in mind to sign and absolutely need that extra cap space then it is a necessary sacrifice you have to make. However, the team should be able to maneuver around the cap just fine without getting rid of Williams.

Yes, he is injury prone and overpaid, but I would rather the team overpay for Williams who can still offer something for Justin Herbert when he is healthy rather than cut him and spend that money on mediocre depth pieces or not even spend it at all.

So as it stands right now, no, I do not think the LA Chargers should or will cut Mike Williams prior to the 2021 season. Of course, things can change.