Hayden Hurst: Everything you need to know

Hurst announced his retirement from the NFL after seven seasons Monday. Hurst was a free agent for the entirety of the 2025 campaign, and he will now officially walk away from football. The tight end will finish his NFL career having caught 203 of 294 targets for 1,975 yards and 15 touchdowns over 88 games with the Ravens, Falcons, Bengals, Panthers and Chargers.

Hurst appeared in nine regular-season games for the Chargers, recording eight catches on 13 targets for 73 yards. Hurst joined the Chargers on a one-year contract, with expectations of bouncing back after a down year in Carolina. Instead, the 31-year-old set career-low marks across the board, including not recording a touchdown for the first time in his career. A hip injury, which led to a stint on IR derailed any momentum he may have been building in the early season with his new squad. Ultimately he finished the campaign as a healthy scratch in their wild card matchup against the Texans.

Hurst is a healthy inactive for Saturday's wild-card game against the Texans. The veteran was the team's preferred pass-catching tight end earlier this season, but Hurst has been used sparingly since returning from a hip injury in Week 16, tallying just 14 total offensive snaps over the final three games of the regular season.