Former New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams is done with football.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter shared on social media that Williams’ agent, Tory Dandy, informed the team on Wednesday, July 17, that “after eight seasons, his client is retiring from the NFL.”
Williams, 30, signed a one-year $6 million deal this offseason to reunite with the Los Angeles Chargers.
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
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The former Clemson product entered the league as the No. 7 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Chargers. This past offseason, Williams bolted from the West Coast to the East Coast to sign a one-year deal with a maximum value of $15 million with the Jets.
Williams’ Tenure With the Jets Was an Epic Disaster
A die-hard Jets fan who goes by “NYJ Matt” on X previously Twitter helped lure Williams from the Chargers to the Jets with a breakfast sandwich.
“A Jets fan in Princeton had the idea to send a New Jersey staple — Taylor Ham (né pork roll), egg and cheese sandwich — to Florham Park so it would be waiting for Williams when he arrived at the Jets facility for his [free agent] visit,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic explained in a story he wrote on March 20. 2024.
Mike Williams’ breakfast sandwich is on the way. Let me know when it arrives @nyjets pic.twitter.com/kLE4QuQgh0
— NYJ Matt (@NYJ_Matt) March 19, 2024
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That cute, funny moment ended up being the highlight of Williams’ time with the green and white.
He ended up appearing in nine games and made three starts with the Jets in 2024. Williams finished with 12 receptions for 166 receiving yards, and he failed to score a touchdown with the Jets.
Former Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a game-ending interception in the Week 6 Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills.
Rodgers blamed Williams after the game for the mistake.
“It was two verticals,” Rodgers said via Pro Football Talk. “Allen [Lazard is] down the seam, Mike’s down the red line. So I’m looking at Allen, he puts his hand up, three guys go with him. So I’m throwing a no-look to the red line. And when I just peek my eyes back there, he’s running an in-breaker. So. Um, it’s gotta be down the red line.”
The Clemson product never recovered from that incident and was ultimately traded ahead of the deadline to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
Jets Search for a WR2 Continues
The green and white added Williams with hopes he could be the Robin to Garrett Wilson’s Batman at wide receiver.
Safe to say that didn’t work out.
It was a worthy kick of the can; Williams was coming off a torn ACL, and the Jets got him on a one-year deal. Injuries and not getting on the same page with Rodgers doomed the young man, and now he is out of the league.
The Jets need to find a WR2 for Wilson. It doesn’t sound like the team will be making any outside additions ahead of training camp. That means the onus is on the current players on the roster to separate themselves in camp and see if someone rises to the occasion.
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