Every NFL team has until 4 p.m. Saturday to get their rosters down from 90 players to 53, and the Los Angeles Chargers are looking to trade wide receiver Dontrelle Inman, to give themselves a little more flexibility in the final roster cuts.
Inman signed a one-year contract with the Chargers this past April after being with the Bolts for three seasons following a post-college stint in the CFL. Per the terms of his second-round tender, Inman is set to earn a non-guaranteed $2.797 million base salary for the coming season.
NFL Network reported Wednesday night the Chargers have discussed possible trades involving Inman, who caught 58 passes for 810 yards and four touchdowns last year. Inman has appeared in one game this preseason, catching one pass for five yards in the Chargers 13-7 defeat to the New Orleans Saints.
It’s not surprising the Chargers would look to move him before the start of the regular season as he had sports hernia surgery in May that has caused him to miss a lot of Los Angeles’ offseason activities.
Inman told The LA Times “It’s a process and I expected that…. anytime you have any kind of surgery, it’s still surgery. Surgery is surgery, and everyone’s body heals differently. It’s a process and mentally you have to be ready for it, so I prepared myself before a decision was made.”
In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Chargers drafted Mike Williams from Clemson seventh overall. Unfortunately, Williams suffered a herniated disk in his lower back during the first rookie minicamp practice, and Bolts fans may not see him play until after Week 6. But by trading Inman, the Chargers would make it easier to take Williams off the PUP list.
Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, and Travis Benjamin figure to see the most looks out of Los Angeles’ wide receiving corps this year. If the Chargers do not find a taker for Inman and would rather use his roster spot on someone else, they could release him without any financial penalty.