Chargers Cut Ties with Former Steelers WR

The Los Angeles Chargers are cutting former Steelers wide receiver Simi Fehoko from their 53-man roster, they announced on Tuesday.

Fehoko spent time on Pittsburgh’s practice squad earlier this year before the Chargers poached him off the practice squad. While in Los Angeles, Fehoko would rack up just one reception for a touchdown in eight games with the team.

He could be someone the Steelers look to bring back, but they have three wide receivers on the practice squad. Denzel Mims, Dez Fitzpatrick, and Deuce Watts have all remained on the practice squad while playing key roles on the scout team each week of the season.

Fehoko, 25, joined the Steelers’ practice squad after being released by the Dallas Cowboys at the end of training camp. Despite injuries to wide receivers Diontae Johnson and Gunner Olszewski early in the season, he was not selected to be elevated to the active roster in his first three weeks with the team. Instead, that went to Fitzpatrick, who was released and put back onto the practice squad.

A 6-foot-4, 218-pound Stanford alum and the cousin of Steelers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko, Simi was a fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2021.

During those two years in Dallas, he played in 10 games and caught three of four targets for 24 yards. In October 2022, he suffered a shoulder injury that put him on injured reserve in Dallas.

Fehoko is a Salt Lake City native. He went on a two-year mission to Korea before enrolling at Stanford to play college football in 2018. During those years, he earned a first-team All-Pac 12 selection in 2020, catching 37 passes for 574 yards in just six games. He finished college with 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns on 62 receptions.

The Chargers still lack great depth at wide receiver and first-round pick Quentin Johnston has struggled, but they did play Fehoko much, meaning they felt they could move on.