Center Bradley Bozeman is remaining with the Los Angeles Chargers rather than enter free agency, the NFL team announced on Monday.
The Chargers said they had reached a “multi-year” contract extension with the former Alabama offensive lineman. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
One year ago, Bozeman signed a one-year, $1.125 million contract with Los Angeles after he was released by the Carolina Panthers. That contract is scheduled to expire at 3 p.m. CDT Wednesday, which would have made Bozeman an unrestricted free agent.
Bozeman made every offensive snap in 16 of the Chargers’ 17 games in 2024. He missed 10 snaps in the other contest. In his teams’ past 45 games, those are the only offensive snaps that Bozeman has missed out of 2,795.
In 2023, Bozeman signed a three-year, $18 million contract extension with the Panthers, which included $10 million in guaranteed money. He played all 1,149 of Carolina’s offensive snaps in 2023, but the Panthers produced the fewest yards, were tied for the fewest points and gave up the most sacks in the NFL.
A former Handley High School standout, Bozeman served as Alabama’s starting center in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, capping his career in the Crimson Tide’s 26-23 overtime victory against Georgia in the CFP national championship game.
As a sixth-round rookie, Bozeman played 214 offensive snaps in 14 games with one start for Baltimore in 2018. But for the next three seasons, he hardly came off the field for the Ravens offense.
With Bozeman at left guard, the Ravens rushed for more than 3,000 yards in 2019 and 2020 seasons – two of the six times that had been accomplished in NFL history.
Bozeman shifted to center for Baltimore in 2021.
Bozeman joined the Panthers in 2022 as a free agent on a one-year, $2.8 million contract after reaching the end of his four-year, $2.578 million rookie deal.
Bozeman didn’t play an offensive snap in Carolina’s first six games of the 2022 season as Pat Elflein handled the work at center for the Panthers. Elflein’s season-ending hip injury opened a spot in the lineup for Bozeman. He played every offensive snap in the Panthers’ final 11 games in 2022, and he signed a contract extension after the season.
Bozeman was the second Alabama alumnus re-signed by the Chargers on Monday. Los Angeles also announced it had signed punter JK Scott.
Carolina released Bozeman on March 13, 2024. He signed with the Chargers five days later.
