Chargers Finalizing Four-Year, $76.4M Extension With Derwin James

Ian Rapoport adds it’s a four-year deal worth an NFL record for safeties at $19.1 million a year and $76.4 million total. He adds $42 million of that amount is guaranteed. 

James had been holding in from practice while negotiations were ongoing. He had missed over a dozen practices but now will return to the field. 

James, 25, is the former 17th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Chargers. He finished the fourth year of a four-year, $12.388 million dollar rookie contract that included a $7.090 million dollar signing bonus.

The Chargers then picked up his fifth-year option back in April of 2021, meaning James had one year left on his current deal and was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023.

He returned in 2021 after missing all but five games of the 2019 season and missed the entire 2020 season due to injury.

In 2021, James appeared in 15 games for the Chargers, recording 118 tackles, two sacks, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions.