Did Rams overpay Darious Williams?

The Rams gave Darious Williams a deal worth up to $30 million, but the final number is much lower

To put his signing in perspective, the Rams gave Darious Williams the “Rasul Douglas contract” when they signed the cornerback to a three-year, $22.5 million contract with incentives that could push the number up to $30 million. If Williams goes the way of Rasul, he will be traded to the Bills in the middle of the 2025 season. If Williams goes the way he went after signing a three-year, $30 million contract with the Jaguars, he will be released in two years.

So did the Rams overpay for Darious Williams to shore up a need on defense and options at cornerback running thin? Yes and no.

Darious Williams contract

Williams is a 31-year-old cornerback who played in all 34 Jaguars games over the past two seasons. He didn’t intercept any passes in 2022, then intercepted four passes in 2023, and people have often noted his “PFF grade” as being worthy of consideration. If the fact that a team released “the second-best CB of 2023” and then is kind of a lukewarm free agent is not an indication to you that the grade may be a bit misleading, nothing will ever convince you of that.

This is not to say that Williams isn’t a good cornerback or that he didn’t have a good season, but he is most likely a one or two-year stopgap for the Rams at a position of need.

Jacksonville released Williams to save $10 million against the cap and Jaguar Report noted he was a bad fit for the defensive coordinator:

Williams’ age was one factor considering he is near the age where cornerbacks start declining. The money was a factor, too, since the Jaguars saved over $10 million with the move. With this in mind, the biggest reason Williams won’t be a Jaguar next year is because of his fit, or lack thereof, in Ryan Nielsen’s scheme. Williams is best as an off-coverage cornerback who can play with his eyes on the quarterback. Nielsen’s scheme demands its cornerbacks to press receivers at the line of scrimmage and play with their back to the quarterback. Williams isn’t, and has never been, this type of cornerback.

The Rams gave Williams a three-year, $22.5 million contract, putting him at an AAV of $7.5 million per season. That puts Darious Williams in the range of being about the 30th-highest paid cornerback in the NFL by average salary.

Comparatively, the Colts gave nickel Kenny Moore a three-year, $30 million contract on Tuesday.

What’s important to remember though is that even if Williams’ has an AAV of $7.5, his first-year cap hit will be lower than that and what we’re waiting to find out is how much of it is fully-guaranteed. If Williams costs $5 million total, then the Rams got a good deal. If L.A. gave Williams $15 million guaranteed, which is a little more than what Sean Murphy-Bunting got from the Cardinals on Monday, it changes the evaluation.

Similar contracts – Rasul Douglas

The Packers signed a 28-year-old Rasul Douglas to a three-year, $21 million contract in 2022 with only $5.3 million guaranteed. I guess Douglas played “good enough” in 2022 because the Packers didn’t cut him, but then Green Bay traded him to the Bills in the middle of 2023 after he had allowed four touchdowns in seven games. They swapped a fifth for a third.

Interestingly, Douglas played better in Buffalo and the Bills decided not to cut him but did re-do his deal last week. Douglas is also about a year and half younger than Williams, a consideration when thinking of how long-term this contract is, but the fact that he only got $5 million guaranteed tells me that L.A. probably didn’t make many promises to Williams.

Also, because the contract carries $8 million in incentives, it seems to be much more of a “prove it” deal than showing confidence that Williams will be a significant upgrade over Ahkello Witherspoon. In fact, Williams will have to have a nice season to be an improvement over Witherspoon, who wasn’t anything special but is two years younger than Williams. Perhaps the Rams will still re-sign Witherspoon, who remains a free agent.

The corners had fairly identical seasons, statistically speaking.

Williams age considerations

Of ALL the cornerbacks in the NFL making more than $3 million per season, only three are at least 31 years old next season: Darius Slay, Stephon Gilmore, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and Jonathan Jones, who is actually younger than Williams by almost 200 days.

The only other players turning 30 this year are Ronald Darby, Douglas, Mike Hilton, and Brandon Facyson.

Williams didn’t really start to put tread on his tires until he was 27, but age is age and the Rams have signed him to a contract that presumes he could still be playing when he’s 33. That just doesn’t happen very often.

Did the Rams overpay?

We haven’t seen the final details but I’m going to say “No” or “Maybe slightly”. I don’t think that signing Williams addresses the cornerback position in a significant way, he is a starter who won’t make the Pro Bowl (not saying that matters, it’s just a way to put it in perspective kind of) but most likely won’t be benched next season either. He fills the starting position and despite the numbers “$30 million” and “$22.5 million”, it is unlikely that Williams will even make more than $10 million total when it is all said and done, unless the guarantee is bigger than that. If the Rams gave Williams more than $6 million guaranteed, they overpaid.

If they paid him the Rasul Douglas contract, they have options.