Tramon Williams - Pro Football Rumors

Packers To Sign CB Tramon Williams

March 22nd, 2018 at 3:29pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers have agreed to sign cornerback Tramon Williams, according to former teammate James Jones (on Twitter). Williams, who spent the first eight seasons of his career in Green Bay, returns on a two-year deal.

Williams was a crucial part of the Packers’ Super Bowl victory in the 2010 season. He had three interceptions during that playoff run and came up with a critical stop late in the championship game to seal the win for Green Bay.

Williams, 35, is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career. The Cardinals long searched for a quality cornerback to pair with star Patrick Peterson and Williams did an admirable job in that role. Pro Football Focus ranked Williams ninth amongst all corners last year and he finished 23rd in Football Outsiders’ success rate and 18th in yards per pass allowed. As a whole, the Cardinals ranked sixth in DVOA against opposing No. 2 wide receivers. They’ll now have to rebuild their secondary after losing Williams and parting ways with Tyrann Mathieu.

The Packers have been eager for an upgrade at cornerback and recently tried to steal restricted free agent Kyle Fuller away from the rival Bears. Fuller would have been a better long-term pickup, but Williams should still be a contributor in the short term.

Top 2018 Free Agents By Position: Defense

March 6th, 2018 at 5:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

NFL free agency will get underway on Wednesday, March 14th, and while the list of free agents will change between now and then, we do have some idea of who will be available when free agency kicks off. The frenzy is right around the corner and it’s time for us to break down the outlook for each position. After looking at offense on Monday, we’ll tackle defense and special teams today.

Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each defensive position. These rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts – or the amount of guaranteed money – that each player is expected to land in free agency. These are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account.

Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents, as well as players who received the franchise tag, aren’t listed here, since the roadblocks in place to hinder another team from actually acquiring most of those players prevent them from being true free agents.

We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some free agents than you are, so feel free to weigh in below in our comments section to let us know which players we’ve got wrong.

Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by defensive position for 2018:

Edge defender:

As a positional group, pass rushers comprise interesting market on the defensive side of the ball. It’s not often that a list of best available players is topped by a 38-year-old, but Peppers is the top free agent edge defender after the Cowboys and Lions deployed the franchise tag on Demarcus Lawrence and Ezekiel Ansah, respectively. As with quarterbacks, NFL clubs are extremely reluctant to allow pass rushers to hit the open market, so top-tier options are rarely ever truly “available.” Peppers, for his part, hasn’t even declared whether he’ll return in 2018, but indications are that he’ll suit up for a 17th campaign after posting 11 sacks last year.

Alongside Peppers, other veterans populate the edge market, and while William Hayes may not be a household name, he’ll be a contributor for whichever team signs him. A stout run defender, Hayes is also capable of generating pressure despite managing only one sack in 2017. The Dolphins used Hayes on only 271 defensive snaps a season ago, and have since replaced him by acquiring fellow defensive end Robert Quinn from the Rams. Now that he’s entering his age-33 season, Hayes should come cheap, but will almost assuredly outplay his contract.

Nearly every other available pass rusher has some sort of flaw which will likely limit his market next week. Trent Murphy is only 27 years old and put up nine sacks in 2016, but he missed the entirety of the 2017 campaign with injury. Pernell McPhee, Alex Okafor, Junior Galette, and Derrick Shelby have also been plagued by health questions in recent seasons. And Adrian Clayborn famously registered the majority of his 2017 sacks (and 20% of his career sack total) in one game against overwhelmed Cowboys backup Chaz Green.

The two names that I keep coming back to are Aaron Lynch (49ers) and Jeremiah Attaochu (Chargers). Yes, Lynch has been suspended for substance abuse, struggled with his weight, and was reportedly in danger of being waived prior to last season. He’s also extremely young (he won’t turn 25 years old until Thursday) and ranked fifth in the league with 34 pass pressures as recently as 2015. Attaochu, a 25-year-old former second-round pick, also has youth on his side, and while he hasn’t quite flashed as much as Lynch, he’s also been buried on LA’s depth chart for much of his career.

Interior defensive line:

Interior rushers are getting more respect in today’s NFL, but that still hasn’t translated to them being paid on the level of edge defenders — the 2018 franchise tag for defensive tackles, for example, is roughly $3MM cheaper than the tender for edge rushers. While the 2018 crop of interior defenders boasts some impressive top-end talent, none of the available players figure to earn a double-digit annual salary. Sheldon Richardson may have the best chance to do so, but Seattle determined he wasn’t worth a one-year cost of $13.939MM, so is any other club going to pay him $10MM per year? I’d guess he comes in closer to $9MM annually, which would still place him among the 25 highest-paid defensive tackles.

Dontari Poe will be an intriguing free agent case after setting for a one-year deal last offseason, but the most interesting battle among defensive tackles will take place Star Lotulelei and Muhammad Wilkerson, and I’m curious to see which player earns more on the open market. Both are former first-round picks, and it’s difficult to argue Wilkerson hasn’t been the more productive player — or, at least, reached higher highs — than Lotulelei. Wilkerson also won’t affect his next team’s compensatory pick formula given that he was released, but his off-field issues, which include a reported lack of effort and problems with coaches, could limit his appeal.

While Beau Allen and Denico Autry are potentially candidates to be overpaid based on their youth, there are bargains to be had at defensive tackle. Tom Johnson is 33 but he’s offered consistent pressure from the interior for years — his last contract was for three years and $7MM, so he shouldn’t cost much this time around. Haloti Ngata was injured in 2017 but plans to continue his career, and he can still stop the run. And Dominique Easley was outstanding as a 3-4 end in 2016 before missing last season with a torn ACL, meaning the former first-round pick could be a value play for any number of teams.Read more

Linebacker:

Although there are a number of high-quality starting linebackers available in free agency this year, I predict most contracts signed by LBs over the next few weeks will come in lower that most expect. The linebacker market is relatively stagnant, and unless the player is a legitimate star or inking an extension with his original club, he’s usually disappointed with his annual value. The most expensive deal for an unrestricted free agent ‘backer who signed with a new team was Bruce Irvin‘s $9.25MM/year pact with the Raiders, and Irvin can almost be considered an edge rusher. After Irvin, it’s Danny Trevathan, whom the Bears signed for a $7MM annual value in 2016.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if no linebacker listed above is able to top Trevathan’s two-year-old average, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t starting-caliber LBs on the market. Zach Brown, the poster boy for having to accept cheap contracts, is coming off another solid season, but is reportedly asking for top-three inside linebacker money. Good luck. Similarly, Demario Davis is looking for $8-10MM annually, while the Jets — who have interest in re-signing him — view him as a $3-4MM/year player.

Nigel Bradham and NaVorro Bowman should both come in around Trevathan’s $7MM average after posting excellent 2017 campaigns. While the Eagles would surely prefer to re-sign Bradham, the club’s dire cap situation may mean Bradham will hit the open market next Wednesday. Bowman, meanwhile, was traded from the 49ers to Raiders last season, and he seems like a good bet to stay with Oakland after new defensive coordinator Paul Guenther heaped lavish praise on the 29-year-old.

Cornerback:

Top-to-bottom, the cornerback market is the deepest positional group on the defensive side of the ball. Need a No. 1 defensive back with experience in both man and zone? Trumaine Johnson is your guy. How about a top-end cornerback who, while admittedly up-and-down at times, has the ability to shut down opposing wide receivers? Malcolm Butler has you covered. A former first-round pick who has finally played up to his potential over the past two seasons? Take a look at Morris Claiborne. Or is a career journeyman who posted 10 excellent games last year more your speed? Look into Rashaan Melvin.

Slot cornerbacks are also prevalent in this year’s defensive back market, and while I ranked Aaron Colvin, T.J. Carrie, Patrick Robinson, and Nickell Robey-Coleman in order of my preference, they could each be plugged into a starting nickel package immediately. I originally though Robinson could land a disappointing deal given his age (31) and his track record of underwhelming play prior to 2017, but he’s already garnering interest from the Giants, Raiders, and Cardinals, so his market should allow him to reach at least $5MM annually. Colvin could garner even more than Robinson thanks his youth (26), and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com expects Colvin to have a “legit” market.

If teams are looking for a bargain at cornerback, they should target Ross Cockrell, whom the Steelers dealt to the Giants last year for a seventh-round pick. Cockrell has always been overlooked in the NFL, but he keeps producing results. In 2017, Cockrell finished first in Football Outsiders’ success rate, which measures cornerbacks on their ability to consistently stop opposing wideouts short of the sticks. In fact, Cockrell was one of only eight defenders who stopped a receiver short of a successful gain on over half their tackles a season ago, as FO’s Aaron Schatz recently tweeted, but the league consistently undervalues him and his skill-set.

Safety:

The best free agent safety was taken off the board earlier today when the Rams used the franchise tag on Lamarcus Joyner, and the remaining market is extremely top-heavy. Eric Reid, Morgan Burnett, Tre Boston, and Kenny Vaccaro could all be in line for at least $5MM annually, but the rest of the class could struggle to find multi-year deals. Among the top-tier safeties, Vaccaro stands out as perhaps the most interesting name. A first-round pick in 2013, Vaccarro has posted three exemplary campaigns and two dreadful years; in 2017, Pro Football Focus ranked Vaccaro as the single-worst safety in the league among 87 qualifiers. But given his draft pedigree and his ability to man the slot, Vaccaro should land a solid deal.

While I like Reid and Burnett a bit more as players, it wouldn’t be a shock if Boston actually lands the largest contract. Reid and Burnett spend a lot of time close to the line of scrimmage, and both have been used as de factor linebackers from time to time. Boston, on the other hand, is a deep safety who can play coverage, and that repertoire is much more difficult to find on the open market. Similarly, Tyvon Branch has been great in coverage during his career with the Raiders, Chiefs, and Cardinals, so he could also see a nice pay bump next week.

After Branch, the crop of available safeties steeply drops off. Every other free agent we’ve listed above will be at at least 29 years old when the 2018 gets underway except for the Lions’ Tavon Wilson, and he was one of the NFL’s worst starting defensive backs last season. Veterans like Corey Graham or Ron Parker can still play as third safeties who see time in “big nickel” packages, but if you’re looking for a starting safety, you’ll want to bring in one of the top six defensive backs on the board.

Kicker:

Punter:

Cards Want To Re-Sign CB Tramon Williams

February 7th, 2018 at 8:24pm CST by Dallas Robinson

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.

Cardinals Sign CB Tramon Williams

July 31st, 2017 at 8:52am CST by Zachary Links

Late Sunday night, the Cardinals added a cornerback to the mix. Tramon Williams has been signed to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. Williams joins the team just hours after cornerback Ronald Zamort suffered a season-ending ACL tear.

Interestingly, Zamort was practicing with the first team last week as Justin Bethel recovered from a minor knee injury, so it seems like the relatively unknown second-year player from Western Michigan leapfrogged Brandon Williams on the depth chart. With that in mind, Bethel and Tramon Williams may be the frontrunners for the right to start opposite of Patrick Peterson.

T. Williams, 34, spent the first nine years of his career with the Packers before joining the Browns last season. He has been remarkably durable over his ten NFL seasons, missing only five games in total. The traditional stats, the advanced stats, and the naked eye test all indicate that he’s not as sharp as he was in his prime with Green Bay, but he could still be a difference maker for a Cardinals team in need of cornerback depth.

The Cardinals also met with cornerback Brandon Flowers in July, but they might not have room for him after adding Williams.

Cardinals Meet With CB Tramon Williams

July 27th, 2017 at 9:59am CST by Zachary Links

Former Browns cornerback Tramon Williams is flying to Arizona for a visit with the Cardinals, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The get-together comes on the heels of a meeting with Brandon Flowers on Wednesday.

[REL,ATED: Cardinals Meet With CB Brandon Flowers]

Williams started 22 games over his two seasons in Cleveland. Last year, he appeared in 12 games (seven starts) and he finished 2016 with 36 tackles, five passes defended, and one interception – his lowest totals since 2007. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus also indicated that he has lost a step. He finished out as PFF’s No. 73 cornerback out of 111 qualified players.

Williams can’t offer the same version of himself that we saw with the Packers earlier in his career, but he can still provide the Cardinals with some veteran know-how in the secondary. He’s probably being looked at as a backup since coach Bruce Arians indicated that Flowers was not being evaluated as a starter.

Extra Points: Washington, Williams, Chung

June 17th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Ben Levine

Daryl Washington hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2013, but a potential comeback attempt got some hope following his reinstatement in April. Now, the 30-year-old isn’t only focused on making it back to the league, but he’s focused on becoming a dominant force.

“[NFL executive Adolpho Birch] asked me, ‘How you know I’m not going to see your face again and you’re not going to be in the same situation?’” Washington told Tom Pelissero of USA Today. “I said, ‘Adolpho Birch, next time you’re going to see me is if you’re at my Hall of Fame speech.’”

In fact, Washington has even outlined how the entire comeback attempt will play out. The Dallas native wants to sign with the Cowboys, win the Comeback Player of the Year award, earn a Pro Bowl birth, and lead his team to a Super Bowl championship.

“I think that star will be on my helmet real soon and it’s going to be a great moment, man,” he said.

“You’ve got to have your mind in a positive place, say ‘I can do this.’ In my mind, I already know I can do it. I don’t know if that’s pride, ego, cockiness, but it’s confidence for me. I know I can play to the best of my abilities. Football is easy. Life is challenging.”

Let’s take a look at some other notes on this Saturday afternoon:

Meanwhile, free agent defensive back Tramon Williams said he’s willing to play multiple positions if it means he could join a contender. “The team I’m looking for is stable and wants to win,” he told SiriusXM NFL Radio (via Twitter). “I’m ready to help a team at cornerback or safety.”
Williams also indicated that he was ready to give up on the Browns during the 2016 season. “There was a point during the season last year where I wanted to be released,” he said. The 34-year-old appeared in 12 games (seven starts) last season, compiled 36 tackles, five passes defended, and one interception – his lowest totals since 2007.
Patriots safety Patrick Chung was given “a chance” to earn an additional $800K in incentives this upcoming season, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (via Twitter). This will now bring the veteran’s potential incentives total to $1.7MM. Chung, who has two years remaining on his contract, compiled 91 tackles in 16 starts for New England last season.

Checking In On The Cornerback Market

May 21st, 2017 at 9:33am CST by Rory Parks

As the league has grown increasingly pass-happy, and as the rules have evolved in a way that favors quarterbacks and wideouts, the importance of the cornerback position has never been higher. Over the course of the offseason, we ranked the best available free agents at each position, and five of our top ten corners remain unsigned. Of course, after the initial wave of free agency is over, teams generally turn their attention to the draft and will circle back to the free agent pool if necessary over the summer months.

The group of cornerbacks still available is headlined by Darrelle Revis, whose performance fell off a cliff last season and who was released by the Jets earlier this year. Almost three weeks ago, we heard that two unidentified teams were interested in Revis, but neither club was willing to pay him more than the $6MM he’s earning from the Jets. Because Revis’ deal with New York contained offset language, if he signs for $6MM or less, his new club would essentially be getting his services for free, which certainly would not sit well with the prideful Revis. The two teams that expressed interest in Revis were not optimistic that they would sign him, but it’s difficult to imagine Revis sitting out 2017 entirely. He’s bound to get a job somewhere, and perhaps he will ultimately return to the Patriots, as was speculated back in March.

The next player on our list, Brandon Flowers, was let go by the Chargers several days before the start of free agency in a cost-cutting move. Flowers, 31, signed a four-year deal with the Bolts prior to the 2015 season, a deal that included $20.5MM in guaranteed money. That contract was a reward for his strong 2014 campaign in San Diego, when he collected 52 tackles, 10 passes defended, and three interceptions. He did not reach that level of play in the following two seasons, though he played in only six games last year due to a concussion. He has always been a fundamentally-sound corner, so even if he has lost a step or two, he could still be a useful part of someone’s DB rotation. The Steelers checked in on him soon after his release, and the two sides could reconvene in the coming months.

Like all of the players in this post, Alterraun Verner did not reach the end of his last contract before becoming a free agent. The Bucs released Verner in February, and immediately thereafter, Verner himself said that four or five teams had reached out to him. That may be true, but there have been no independent reports of interest in Verner since his release. The UCLA product has been quite durable during his seven-year career, but he saw his playing time wane dramatically over the past two seasons. He started just three games in 2016, tying a career low, and only appeared in 22.8% of Tampa Bay’s defensive plays. Still just 28, Verner will not command the same type of money he did when he inked a four-year, $25.5MM pact with the Bucs in 2014, but he never seemed to play to his potential in Tampa Bay, and it’s possible that a change of scenery could reinvigorate him.

There have been no reports of interest in former Packer Sam Shields since he was released by Green Bay earlier this year. Sadly, Shields suffered his second concussion in a nine-month span during the Packers’ Week 1 contest in 2016, and he never made it back to the field last season. He is only 29 and is immensely talented, but it does not appear as if the league has much confidence in his ability to rebound from his concussion issues. He previously stated that he has no intention of retiring, so hopefully he can convince someone to take a chance on his upside, even if it’s on a one-year pact for the veteran minimum.

Tramon Williams is the oldest of this group of corners, and at age 34, it’s fair to wonder what he has left in the tank He played in only 12 games (seven starts) for the Browns last season, and he finished 2016 with 36 tackles, five passes defended, and one interception – his lowest totals since 2007. Plus, Pro Football Focus’ metrics graded him as just the 73rd-best corner out of 111 qualified players. He was very good for a very long time for the Packers, but while he may be able to hang on for another year or two, his playing career appears just about over.

Top 2017 Free Agents By Position 3.0: Defense

March 15th, 2017 at 6:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The initial wave of NFL free agency is now complete, and while many of the league’s top available players are now off the board, there are still plenty of quality options still on the open market.

Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each defensive position. These rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts – or the amount of guaranteed money – that each player is expected to land in free agency. These are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account.

Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents, as well as players who received the franchise tag, aren’t listed here, since the roadblocks in place to hinder another team from actually acquiring most of those players prevent them from being true free agents.

We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some free agents than you are, so feel free to weigh in below in our comments section to let us know which players we’ve got wrong.

Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by defensive position for 2017: