Chargers Sign Derwin James Jr. to Record Contract for Safety, per Report

The fifth-year player bounced back from two injury-plagued seasons for an All-Pro performance in 2021.

The Chargers and Derwin James Jr. have agreed to a four-year contract extension that will reset the market for safeties, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

James, a first-team All-Pro in 2018 and again in ’21, will make $76.4 million over four years with Los Angeles, including $42 million in guaranteed money. He becomes the highest-paid safety in league history, Rapoport says.

The agreement also ends James’s “hold-in” with the team, the term for when players in contract talks attend training camp but do not participate in drills with the team. 

James, who starred at Florida State from 2015 to ’17, was the No. 17 pick in the 2018 NFL draft. He was an All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection as a rookie. Injuries decimated his next two years, with a stress fracture limiting him to five games in ’19, and a torn meniscus keeping him out for all of ’20. He bounced back in ’21, with a career-high 118 combined tackles in 15 games, along with two sacks, two interceptions and three forced fumbles.

As a rookie in 2018, James picked off three passes and registered an impressive 13 pass breakups.

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