Chargers release former first-round pick and running back, sign new linebacker

Travis Wakeman

Chargers release former first-round pick and running back, sign new linebacker image

The Los Angeles Chargers have made a few roster moves ahead of their Week 2 divisional battle with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

The Chargers started by releasing Jalen Reagor from their practice squad with an injury settlement. The former first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles has been with the Chargers since last season. He played in eight games and caught seven passes for 100 yards. Due to the team's lack of depth at the wide receiver position early this summer, many saw him making the team's 53-man roster. But the emergence of fifth-round pick KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the return of Keenan Allen left no room for him to make it. 

The team also signed former Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Kana'i Mauga. Undrafted out of USC in 2022 and signed by the Denver Broncos, Mauga spent the past three seasons in Vegas and now joins his third AFC West team. He has six career tackles but will provide depth at the position as it appears both Denzel Perryman and Del'Shawn Phillips could miss the game

The team has also chosen to part ways with running back Nyheim Hines-Miller. Hines-Miller was on the team's practice squad after coming back to the field after missing two full seasons and failing to make the team's 53-man roster. The team has sixth-round pick Kimani Vidal and Amar Johnson, a player many feel strongly about, already on the practice squad, and felt Hines-Miller was expendable. 

READ: Did Justin Herbert just play the best game of his career?

It's only Week 2, but the Chargers are already having to improvise with the roster. 

MORE CHARGERS CONTENT

NFL Power Rankings: L.A. Chargers join league's elite following huge Week 1 win

Who are the Los Angeles Chargers' team captains for the 2025 season?

Los Angeles Chargers' season-opening history with Chiefs casts a shadow on trip to Brazil

Chargers bring back wide receiver amid flurry of practice squad moves

Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.