The Raiders have released defensive tackle Dan Williams, according to a team announcement. In moving on from Williams, the Raiders have saved $4.5MM, which would have been his entire cap hit for 2017.
Williams, whom the Cardinals chose in the first round of the 2010 draft, spent the first five years of his career in Arizona before signing with the Raiders as a free agent in advance of the 2015 season. The 330-pounder ended up playing out half of the four-year, $25MM contract the Raiders gave him, also collecting $15.2MM in guarantees.
As was the case in Arizona, Williams played a prominent role while with Oakland. He appeared in all 32 of the team’s regular-season contests during his stint and started 26 of those games. Williams’ starts dipped from 15 in 2015 to 11 last year, though, and he tallied a career-low 17 tackles. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old impressed Pro Football Focus, which ranked Williams a solid 44th among 127 qualified interior defensive linemen and, even though he had just half a sack, awarded him a strong pass-rushing grade.
With Williams out of the picture, the Raiders are down to Jihad Ward, Justin Ellis and Darius Latham as their D-tackles. Of course, with the draft coming up, they could add more bodies to the mix in the coming weeks.
The Giants need a veteran like Williams!
I think his ticket is just about as good as punched to New York. After missing out on their own I’m Hankins, Dan Williams has just graciously fell into the Giants laps.
Also, without much negotiating leverage, you would think the Giants could sign Williams for fairly cheap…
I will honestly be shocked if he doesn’t sign with the Giants, but I certainly wouldn’t mind the 49ers signing him though…