The Cardinals aren’t expected to spend at the top of the cornerback market in order to bring in a defender such as Malcolm Butler or Trumaine Johnson, and will instead attempt to re-sign veteran defensive back Tramon Williams while drafting a corner, tweets Mike Jurecki of ArizonaSports.com.
Arizona has long struggled to find a corner to play opposite Patrick Peterson, but Williams filled that void in 2017, posting arguably the best season of his lengthy career while ranking as the NFL’s No. 9 cornerback, per Pro Football Focus. He also finished 23rd in Football Outsiders’ success rate and 18th in yards per pass allowed, while the Cardinals as a team ranked sixth in DVOA against opposing No. 2 wide receivers.
However, Williams will be 35 years old when the 2018 campaign gets underway, so it’s unclear if he’ll be able to land anything more than the one year, $2MM deal he inked with the Cardinals last summer. Coming off a far less productive campaign, Williams didn’t sign until the end of July in 2017. While he almost certainly won’t have to wait that long to find a new contract this offseason, his age will prevent him from truly cashing in.
If Williams signs elsewhere, Arizona will need to draft a cornerback early or add another free agent defensive back. Williams, Peterson, and Justin Bethel were the only Cardinals corners to play more than 7% of the club’s defensive snaps a season ago, and Bethel is now a free agent, as well. Other Arizona defenders such as Harlan Miller and C.J. Goodwin can’t be counted on to start, while 2016 third-round pick Brandon Williams was asked to play only a single defensive snap in 2017.
Nooo Come home to Green Bay! TT was replaced, his fear of men older than 28 will never harm you again!
Tram on down
Good! Better than Bethel