Chargers pick up Ronnie Brown

Posted by Mike Florio on June 8, 2012, 5:27 PM EDT

AP

Chargers coach Norv Turner recently said that running back Ryan Mathews reminds Turner of Ricky Williams.  The comparison becomes even more clear now, given that the Chargers have added the guy who used to share touches with Ricky in Miami.

The Chargers have announced that running backRonnie Brown, the second overall pick in the 2005 draft, has joined the team.

It’s a one-year deal for a guy who languished on the free-agent market.  Though on the wrong side of 30, Brown never has been a workhorse back, which means that the tires likely still have some tread.

The decision to join the Chargers seems odd, given that the Chargers plan to use Mathews extensively.  Barring injury, Brown could get the same limited reps that he received in 2011, when he served as the understudy to LeSean McCoy.

The Eagles actually tried to trade Brown straight up for running back Jerome Harrison in October.  The trade was voided after Eagles doctors found that Harrison had a brain tumor.

But neither the Lions, nor anyone else, pursued Brown aggressively once he became available on March 13.

Brown also brings to the table the ability to run the Wildcat offense.  It’s perhaps the skill for which he became best known, until of course he tried to improvise in bizarre fashion last year for the Eagles.

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