The Los Angeles Chargers have spent the offseason revamping their receiving room, and that makeover continued this week with the addition of veteran receiver D.J. Chark.
According to NFL.com, the Chargers have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the former Pro Bowl receiver. The deal is worth up to a total of $5 million if Chark meets every incentive. Although Chark is only 27, he instantly becomes the most experienced receiver on a Chargers roster that's definitely lacking experience at the position.
The Chargers have completely overhauled their receiving room this offseason. The overhaul started in March when the team decided to cut Mike Williams, who had been with the Chargers since 2017. The team also decided to get rid of Keenan Allen, who was traded to the Bears shortly after Williams was released. Allen had spent his entire 11-year career with the Chargers and he left Los Angeles as the second-leading receiver in franchise history in both yards and receptions.
With those two out, the Chargers had some big holes to fill and they started that process in the draft by selecting Ladd McConkey with the 34th overall pick before adding two more receivers in the seventh round (Brenden Rice and Cornelius Johnson). Clearly, the Chargers felt like they still needed to do more, which would explain why they decided to add Chark, who's going into his seventh NFL season.
Thanks to this move, Chark will now be playing for his fourth team in four years. He spent the 2023 season in Carolina, where he finished second on the team in receiving yards with 525 while playing for a Panthers offense that struggled for most of the year. In 2022, he was in Detroit, where he finished with 502 receiving yards, which ranked third on the team.
Before his time with the Lions, Chark spent the first four seasons of his career in Jacksonville (2018-21). His best season came in 2019 when he was voted to the Pro Bowl after leading the team with 73 receptions for 1,008 yards. Chark has averaged 39.6 catches for 579 yards and 4.6 touchdowns over his past five seasons and if he can hit those numbers in L.A., the Chargers would probably be thrilled.
Chark will now be joining a receiving room that already includes Quentin Johnston, Joshua Palmer and Derius Davis on top of the three aformentioned rookies.