The Los Angeles Chargers are closing in on their initial 53-man roster, and after the Sunday deadline comes the next wave of roster churn. Around the league, teams are already cutting players loose, with many of those moves reaching the public through agents or representatives. The Chargers, by contrast, have stayed quiet.
That silence won’t last long. Once the roster is set, Monday is expected to bring the usual rush of waiver claims and practice squad additions. Under general manager Joe Hortiz, the Chargers have made a habit of building out that depth, often filling spots with players who were just on the wrong side of the final cut if they survive waivers.
They also tend to look beyond their own roster for specific fits, and one name that stands out is former Michigan defensive tackle and ex-Dallas Cowboys first-round pick Mazi Smith.
Smith, now with the New York Jets, was recently released after being included in last season’s trade with Dallas for Quinnen Williams. He was once a 337-pound outlier who topped The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s annual freaks list in 2022, then used a strong season under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan to become the No. 26 overall pick in the first round.
But the NFL part of the story hasn’t gone nearly as smoothly. Dallas tried to have Smith reshape his body and take on a different role in its defense, and that process stretched across several seasons without the kind of breakthrough the Cowboys wanted. He was eventually moved to the Jets.
If Smith gets through waivers untouched, the Chargers would make plenty of sense as a landing spot on the practice squad. He already has a connection to Chargers executive director of player performance Ben Herbert, under whom he became that physical marvel at Michigan. And then there’s the Harbaugh factor, with Smith’s college success coming in that same ecosystem.
The other big piece is Chargers defensive line coach Mike Elston. Smith has the traits to be an NFL defensive lineman, but he needs a reset after being pushed into a role that never clicked. Elston has shown he can get more out of players, and the best example sitting right in front of the Chargers is Teair Tart, who was cut by multiple teams before signing late in training camp in 2024 and is now a force on the Chargers’ defensive front.
That combination - Herbert, Harbaugh, and Elston - gives Smith a chance to restart in a setting that already knows how to get the most out of him. For the Chargers, it would be a low-risk move with real upside.
In Other News...
Chargers Just Signaled A Tough D-Line Decision Before Final Cuts
A productive preseason was still not enough to keep TeRah Edwards in the mix as the Chargers trimmed toward their final roster decisions. Los Angeles dealt the defensive lineman to Carolina for a 2028 sixth-round pick, a move that clears one more body from a crowded defensive front and gives the team a little more flexibility as cutdown day approaches.
For Edwards, the trade ends a brief but noteworthy run with the Chargers after he had done enough in exhibition play to draw attention. For the Chargers, it is another sign that the defensive line picture is coming into focus, with the front office choosing draft capital over keeping another player in a group that had become difficult to sort through. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Final Roster Moves Left Two Notable Decisions Standing
The Chargers spent Tuesday trimming their roster down to 53, a process that sent 32 players out the door and pushed several others onto injured reserve or reserve/non-football injury lists. Even with all the movement, linebacker Junior Colson is still part of the mix, and the 2024 third-round pick has already appeared in 11 games this season as the team sorts through its depth heading into the next stretch.
One of the more notable twists came with safety Tony Jefferson, whose status flipped from an earlier report and left him on the roster after all. For a team that had plenty of decisions to make in the final round of cuts, the last few moves were less about volume and more about the names still standing when the dust settled. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Made A Surprising JK Scott Move Fans Should Watch Closely
The Chargers cutdown to 53 players came with one small but notable surprise: punter JK Scott was released, leaving the roster without a punter for the moment. It is the sort of move that usually signals something more than a simple goodbye, especially when a team is juggling the final edges of its roster and trying to maximize flexibility before the waiver period.
Tom Pelissero reported Scott is expected to return later in the week, though the Chargers have not officially confirmed that plan. For now, it looks like one of several tactical roster moves in a busy stretch for Los Angeles, which also worked trades involving defensive players as it set up room for the next round of decisions. [Read more 🡒]