12:06pm: The Cardinals are transferring Williams to IR, Gannon announced. This is not too surprising given the initial report. The sixth-year blocker will be sidelined until at least Week 6. Gannon is not sure if Williams will require surgery on his unspecified knee injury.
10:29am: Jonah Williams‘ Cardinals debut involved only 22 snaps, as an injury took the free agency addition off the field. The Cardinals will need to make an early-season adjustment as a result.
The former first-round pick will miss time due to the knee injury he sustained in Buffalo, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. While the team is still evaluating how long it will need to play without its highest-paid blocker, it does appear a multi-week absence is on the table.
Although Williams missed his entire rookie season due to a shoulder injury, he has played at least 16 games in each of the past three seasons. However, the 2019 first-round pick’s Bengals tenure also included a 2020 IR placement due to a knee malady. Williams missed six missed games that season. It is premature to suggest Williams’ next injury hiatus will rival that, but if he is placed on IR, no activation can commence until at least Week 6.
Williams agreed to a two-year, $30MM deal with the Cardinals in free agency. While Williams protested a switch to right tackle by requesting a trade out of Cincinnati last year, he ended up doing as the team asked and switching positions (to accommodate the Bengals’ Orlando Brown Jr. signing). Williams’ initial hesitancy about an RT move made it interesting he would sign with a team planning to use him on the right side. Arizona soon switched Paris Johnson Jr. from right to left tackle.
The five-year Bengal is the only Cards O-lineman tied to a contract north of $6MM per year. Pairing with Johnson’s rookie contract, Williams was to step in as veteran help in Jonathan Gannon‘s second season. That plan is on hold, but a Steve Keim-era pickup is plenty qualified to man the fort in the meantime.
Kelvin Beachum came in to relieve Williams against the Bills. Despite the Cardinals demoting the veteran last year by drafting Johnson sixth overall, he has remained as an experienced swingman under Gannon and OC Drew Petzing. Beachum, 35, has been with the Cardinals since 2020. He worked as the team’s full-time right tackle from 2020-22, making this a rather easy transition compared to the transitions teams often have to make when a starting O-lineman goes down. Granted, Beachum did struggle against Von Miller, but he still provides the Cardinals with a proven option rather than a career backup or spot starter being asked to come in.
With D.J. Humphries off the roster, Beachum is Arizona’s longest-tenured O-lineman. He has 149 NFL starts on his resume. The former Steelers and Jets left tackle starter is tied to a two-year, $5.15MM contract.
