It has not officially happened yet but it is only a matter of time until the LA Chargers cut Mike Williams to save room on the salary cap. Even after the NFL added more money to the cap, the Chargers still need to free up over $20 million to become cap-compliant this offseason.
Cutting Williams will free up $20 million in cap space for the Chargers to work with. Considering Williams is about to hit 30 years old and is coming off a torn ACL, it is a no-brainer for the Chargers to part ways and save money in the process.
It may no longer be in the best interest of the Chargers to keep Williams but he still has value in the NFL. Williams will likely sign a deal similar (if not slightly more) to what DeAndre Hopkins signed a year ago. That puts Williams value at around $15 million per season. There are several teams needing wide receiver help that can afford that.
4 teams that may sign Mike Williams after he gets cut by the Chargers:
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have a wide receiver problem to solve this offseason with Michael Pittman Jr. hitting free agency. Colts GM Chris Ballard said that Pittman will be a Colt next season, though, so it appears the team is gearing up to bring him back.
Even after signing Pittman the Colts will have plenty of cap space to spend and the best thing a team can do in that position is spend to help a young quarterback. That is exactly what Indy can look to do with Williams, especially considering he won't get top-line receiver money.
The big connective force between Williams and the Colts is head coach Shane Steichen, who coached Williams as the offensive coordinator of the Chargers. That connection could be enough to get Williams in the door to be a deep-ball threat for Anthony Richardson.