Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Williams is retiring from the NFL. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter via Williams’ agent Tory Dandy, Williams has opted against playing in 2025 and is hanging up his cleats. Williams had returned to the Los Angeles Chargers, the team that drafted him, on a one-year deal after finishing the 2024 season with Pittsburgh.
Sources: Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams’ agent Tory Dandy informed the team last night that, after eight seasons, his client is retiring from the NFL. Williams walks away from the game at age 30. pic.twitter.com/f97JzkcYHj
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 17, 2025
Williams, who turns 31 in October, finishes his eight-year career with 330 receptions, 5,104 yards, and 32 touchdowns across 106 games. Most of that production came with the Chargers, the organization’s first-round pick in 2017 out of Clemson. His best seasons came in 2019 and 2021, reaching the 1,000-yard each year. In 2019, he led the NFL with 20.4 yards per reception.
After tearing his ACL in 2023, Williams signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets in 2024. But he struggled to get on the same page with QB Aaron Rodgers and was unproductive, catching only 12 passes across nine games. Pittsburgh traded a 2025 fifth-round pick for Williams ahead of last year’s deadline, finally acquiring a receiver after dealing WR Diontae Johnson that March.
Williams made an immediate impact with a game-winning touchdown to beat the Washington Commanders in Week 10.
But that was the highlight of his brief tenure with the team, Williams catching eight regular-season passes the rest of the way. He struggled to find playing time and a role in the Steelers’ offense, a unit that severely faltered down the stretch.
Williams signed a one-year, $6 million deal to return to the Chargers this offseason. Shortly after re-signing, Williams admitted his 2024 season was “terrible.”
“Last year was terrible for me,” Williams told reporters in mid-March. “Just being honest. It was terrible. Probably the worst year I had in the league by far. I’m just putting in the past. That was the past, trying to make it feel like it didn’t happen for me. Just getting back to what I’m used to doing and having fun.”
Los Angeles placed Williams on the Active/PUP list earlier this week, though it’s unclear if that was related due to injury or Williams contemplating retirement.
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