EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Derwin James has accomplished plenty with the Los Angeles Chargers, including agreeing to a new three-year contract extension on Tuesday that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid safety once again.
Success in the playoffs, however, has been elusive during James’ first seven seasons. He hopes to address the one gap in his otherwise stellar resume during the new deal, which now runs through 2029.
“Honestly, I want to win, win the Super Bowl so bad, man, so coming out here and just working, working, working hard as I can every day, and I feel like that’s what I’m so focused on. The money’s good, yeah, it’s good, but I can’t get my thoughts off being the last team playing,” James said Wednesday after the first day of organized team activities.
James has never reached the AFC championship game, let alone the Super Bowl, in four playoff appearances since the Chargers drafted him in the first round in 2018.
His only postseason win came at the end of James’ rookie season when Los Angeles defeated the Baltimore Ravens in a wild-card game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the divisional round.
To help get over that hump, the Chargers chose to keep James for the long term because of his positional versatility and value as a leader.
In the past two seasons under head coach Jim Harbaugh and former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who became head coach of the Ravens in January, James had 187 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 7 1/2 sacks, four interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He was second team All-Pro in both seasons.
James’ multifaceted deployment is not expected to change under new coordinator Chris O’Leary, who was the Chargers safeties coach in 2024 before spending last season in the college ranks at Western Michigan.
“I think he’s going to let me know, like, whatever you need from me, and that role can change weekly. I feel like I’m a very versatile player, whatever you need from whether it’s to guard the tight end, guard the running back, blitz this week, play in the post, play deep. Whatever the game plan, like, requires, I feel like I can help the team, so whatever he needs from me, honestly,” James said.
Just as important as his ability to play multiple spots is James’ enthusiasm on and off the field. Edge rusher Khalil Mack called James “one of the greatest teammates I’ve ever played with, just from the standpoint of the man.
“How he treats people, how he wants to be treated, and how he carries himself, he carries himself like that every day,” Mack said.
“The energy is there, it’s positive, it’s infectious throughout the building. So, yeah, you want to keep a guy like Derwin in any building. I’m sure any team around the NFL would want to keep him for a lifetime.”
Justin Herbert took part in on-field workouts for the first time this spring after the Chargers quarterback skipped earlier segments of the voluntary offseason program to spend time with pop singer Madison Beer while she is on tour in Europe. Herbert and Beer took their relationship public in October, and he recently appeared in her new music video.
Harbaugh said he was happy to see Herbert take some personal time by returning support for Beer after she became a regular presence at Chargers home games this past season.
“He told me he wasn’t going to be here for those two weeks, and my first reaction was, ’You need a ride to the airport?'” Harbaugh joked. “He’s just been somebody that he’s just here all the time. I mean, sometimes I wanted to shoo him out of the building.”
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