Today’s reserve/futures contracts. For a primer/refresher on what exactly these deals entail, click here.
Indianapolis Colts
Philadelphia Eagles
Both players are former Chargers. Williams started 15 games for the Chargers in 2017 and seven last year, but injuries quickly derailed his career even though he was once highly regarded. Still only 26, he should have a decent chance to crack Philly’s secondary next year. Scott spent most of the past three seasons on Los Angeles’ practice squad.
Here’s the latest from around the league’s workout circuit:
Cleveland Browns
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
New York Giants
Oakland Raiders
Philadelphia Eagles
On what turned out to be a slow deadline day, the Jets’ negotiations involving Jamal Adams turned out to be the top story. But more came out of New York this week. Here is the latest on the Jets and Giants, beginning with a key Jet that was not dealt:
We’ll keep track of today’s workouts here:
Houston Texans
New York Jets
San Francisco 49ers
Washington Redskins
The Cardinals have been awarded cornerback Trevor Williams off waivers, the team announced in a release. To make room on the active roster, Arizona has released punter Ryan Winslow.
Williams was just waived by the Chargers, and he’ll be staying on the west coast. Patrick Peterson still has one game left on his suspension and Tramaine Brock got banged up during Arizona’s Week 5 game, so they needed some help in the secondary. A Penn State product, Williams made a name for himself in Los Angeles as an undrafted free agent. In 2017, he started 15 games and had 13 passes defended and two interceptions.
He started seven games last year, but then got hurt and his recovery lagged. He started this year off injured again and hasn’t appeared in a game in 2019, although he’s apparently back to full health. He hasn’t played since midway through last season, so it’s unclear if he’ll be able to play right away. Either way, it’s a nice high-upside and low-risk pickup for this rebuilding Cardinals team. Winslow had been filling in for regular punter Andy Lee, who should now be ready to return from his injury.
The Chargers released former starting cornerback Trevor Williams from injured reserve, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It appears that Williams is healthy, or close to being healthy, because Schefter hears there’s a good chance that he’ll get claimed by another team.
[RELATED: Chargers Place WR Dontrelle Inman On IR]
Williams was looking to bounce back from an injury-riddled 2018 campaign, but he landed on IR once again in September with a quad injury. After missing seven games with a knee malady, Williams has yet to see the field in 2019.
A UDFA out of Penn State, Williams started 15 Chargers games in 2017. It sounds like he’ll have more games, and possibly more starts, on the horizon in 2019.
The Chargers swapped out cornerbacks Wednesday, signing Dontae Johnson and placing Trevor Williams on IR. Williams represents the latest injury loss for the again-malady-plagued Bolts.
Williams was looking to bounce back from an injury-riddled 2018 campaign, where he missed seven games due to a knee injury. The Chargers tendered Williams as an RFA back in March, but a quadriceps injury limited him and will force him to IR. A UDFA out of Penn State, Williams started 15 Chargers games in 2017.
The fourth-year defender must miss a minimum of eight games before potentially returning, though one of the Bolts’ two IR-return spots is essentially spoken for. Derwin James is expected to return at some point in the regular season’s second half.
A 2014 49ers fourth-round pick, Johnson spent four years in San Francisco. He played in 63 games (22 starts) for the 49ers and caught on with three teams — the Seahawks, Bills and Cardinals — last year but did not see game action. Johnson returned to the 49ers for camp this year, but despite a three-interception preseason, he did not make their 53-man roster.
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Chicago Bears
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
New York Giants
Oakland Raiders
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
The Chargers have tendered cornerback Trevor Williams at the original round tender value, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com (via Twitter). If he doesn’t end up signing elsewhere, Williams will play next season on a one-year, $2.025MM deal.
Since Williams was undrafted, a team wouldn’t be required to give up compensation in order to sign him. Considering the inexpensive $2MM price tag it’d take to pry him away from Los Angeles, it wouldn’t be surprising if the cornerback is playing elsewhere in 2019.
Williams has evolved into one of the Chargers top defensive backs. After starting 15 games in 2017, Williams started seven of his nine games in 2018. He finished the campaign with 23 tackles, four passes defended, and one interception. The 25-year-old suffered a knee injury in Week 9, and he proceed to miss four of his next five games before landing on the injured reserve.
Assuming everyone is healthy heading into next season, Williams would likely slot behind Desmond King and Casey Hayward on the Chargers’ cornerbacks depth chart.
The Chargers made a number of roster moves before tonight’s contest against the Chiefs, including placing cornerback Trevor Williams on injured reserve. Additionally, linebacker Tre’Von Johnson has been waived, while running back Troymaine Pope and linebacker Kyle Wilson have been promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.
Williams, 25, was hampered by an ankle injury that cost him most of the Chargers’ offseason program and preseason. He made it back in time for Week 1 and served as a starter for much of the year before suffering a knee injury during practice in Week 10. Williams has barely played since, managing only a single defensive snap and a handful of special teams plays in Week 13.
Since Williams went down, second-year cornerback Michael Davis has taken over as Los Angeles’ nickelback and played quite well, grading as the NFL’s No. 53 CB among 113 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus, which had ranked Williams just 79th. Davis will continue to lineup alongside Casey Hayward and Desmond King in one of the league’s best secondaries, a unit that currently ranks ninth in pass defense DVOA. As for Williams, he’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent in 2019.
Pope’s elevation to the Chargers’ active roster is further proof Los Angeles isn’t optimistic fellow running back Melvin Gordon will be able to play on Thursday night. Gordon himself said he’ll be a game-time decision, and if he can’t go, Pope could serve as insurance behind Justin Jackson and Detrez Newsome (usual No. 2 back Austin Ekeler has already been declared out for tonight’s matchup).