Breaking down the Rams’ options with RFA Darious Williams (yahoo.com)
Breaking down the Rams’ options with RFA Darious Williams
Darious Williams was a certified stud for the Rams last season, playing at an extremely high level in his first year as a starter. He picked off four passes in the regular season and had a pick-six in the playoffs, performing as one of the best corners in football.
His future in L.A. isn’t certain, however, as he’s set to become a restricted free agent. A restricted free agent is a player whose contract is expiring and has accrued exactly three seasons in the NFL.
Restricted free agents are easier to retain than unrestricted ones, but they’ll still cost the team a fair amount. With Williams, the Rams have multiple options when it comes to keeping him, each with a different price.
Here are four ways they could retain Williams this offseason.
1st-round tender: $4.766 million
This would be the costliest option for the Rams, but also the one that best protects them from losing Williams. With a first-round tender, it’s unlikely a team would be willing to give up its first-round pick to sign Williams. As good as he is, and as high as his ceiling is, Williams has just one year of starting experience and just turned 27 years old. A team looking for CB help would probably rather spend a first-rounder on a 21-year-old rookie and sign him to a contract much cheaper than what Williams will cost. So for the Rams, if they’re adamant on keeping him around, the first-round tender protects them the most.
2nd-round tender: $3.384 million
The second-round tender comes with a mix of risk and reward. Based on the way Williams played last season, $3.384 million for one season is still a huge bargain. But at the same time, he’s also worth a second-round pick to another team. So with the second-round tender, the Rams would save $1.382 million in 2021, but they would also risk a team signing him to an offer sheet. If the Rams were unwilling to match an offer, they’d get a second-round pick. But will they really be able to find a surefire starter at corner in the second round of the draft to replace Williams? Probably not.
Original-round tender: $2.183 million
The original-round tender should be out of the question for the Rams. It’s the cheapest of the three tenders, but it also doesn’t come with any compensation if L.A. were to lose him. Because Williams came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018, the Rams wouldn’t get a draft pick if he were to leave. Again, it’s less than half the cost of a first-round tender, but there’s a very good chance at least one team would sign Williams to an offer sheet if the Rams used an original-round tender – and L.A. would be in serious danger of losing him.
Contract extension
The Rams don’t
have to use one of the RFA tenders on Williams in order to keep him. They could sign him to a long-term extension, which would actually be the most financially helpful option. If the Rams were to give Williams, say, a three-year deal, they could keep his cap hit in 2021 on the lower side by spreading the money out across multiple years rather than just one season with an RFA tender. With an extension, his cap hit could be lower than both of the top-two tenders by backloading the contract in years when the salary cap should be higher. A fair contract for Williams could be three years at $8-9 million p
