With the San Diego Chargers in search of a backup running back to take some of the load off of Ryan Mathews, it would appear that this tweet is newsworthy:

Ricky Williams tells 103.1 FM he has signed his NFL retirement papers...BUT he would consider playing for his hometown S-D Chargers. :) — Jon Madani (@Zone_Madani) March 28, 2012

I like Ricky and always have but before we start getting excited about this there are a two issues that we need to go over.

Ricky signed a two-year deal with the Ravens before last season. That means that if he un-retires, he's property of the Ravens. They could release him, but they'd be taking a $1.5 million cap hit to do so. Ricky is 35 years old and is coming off the least productive season of his career. He also has a ton of miles on him (2,400+ carries)

The bright side is that Ricky has good hands and is a very good pass-blocker. He's also a good goal-line back, although his fumble issues in the past make him almost like an older Mike Tolbert (read: no speed).





On top of that, Ricky's best years in the NFL were with Norv Turner calling the plays for the Miami Dolphins. So not only would he be familiar with the offense, Norv would have a good idea on how to use him.





It's not the worst idea in the world, but there's probably a few better options out there for the Chargers (such as guys that aren't retired or under contract with other teams). Don't bet your savings on Ricky un-retiring.



