An undrafted journeyman out of Illinois, Del'Shawn Phillips has built a seven-year NFL career almost entirely on special-teams excellence.
Del'Shawn Phillips has never been a defensive centerpiece, but he has made himself indispensable on special teams across six different NFL franchises. With the Chargers, he continues that role as one of the league's most productive coverage linebackers.
Path to the league
Phillips played two seasons at Illinois after transferring in, racking up 180 tackles across 23 games and earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention recognition in 2018. He went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent.
Career highlights
Phillips has bounced through stops with the Falcons, Bills, Jets, Ravens, and Texans before landing with the Chargers, building his career almost entirely on special-teams production. He has totaled more than 100 career tackles, primarily on coverage units, and has developed into one of the league's more respected special-teams veterans.
2025 season recap
Phillips earned Second-Team All-Pro recognition as a special-teamer in 2025 after playing all 17 games for the Chargers, setting a franchise single-season record with 24 special-teams tackles and posting a career-high 37 tackles overall.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Del'Shawn Phillips
- ESPN: Del'Shawn Phillips
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
17 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | chargers | 17 | 37 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | texans | 17 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | ravens | 17 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | ravens | 16 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | jets | 17 | 31 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Linebacker
- Group
- defense
- College
- Illinois
- Hometown
- Highland Park, MI, USA
- Age
- 29
- Status
- active
