Greedy Williams could be the Lions next reclamation project

It actually felt like it might go that way for a while. Williams would wind up on the Lions with the 8th pick in a decent amount of mock drafts from some of the biggest names in the draft game like Todd McShay.

That never happened though. The Lions wound up taking T.J. Hockenson and DeAndre Baker wound up being the only cornerback taken in the first round. They all fell to the second round. That's where the Cleveland Browns took Williams. It felt like a crazy steal at the time.

In the very beginning, it looked like that would be the case. Williams had a nice start with the Browns. He had some good games in his rookie year, but he also just looked like a rookie. That's totally fine. It happens to a large percentage of rookies every year. The idea was that he'll continue to grow and it will work out. 

Then he suffered a nerve injury in his shoulder during camp in 2020 and wound up missing his entire sophomore season. When he came back in 2021, the Browns had already started to move on form him. They drafted Greg Newsome in the 1st round of the draft that year and that was that. By 2022, Williams was an afterthought in Cleveland starting just one game. 

The Eagles signed him in free agency this past March, but that team is just so stock full of talent that Williams just never had a chance to crack the roster. Now he's a free agent. 

The Lions are the prefect team for him. Not just becasue they just lost Emmanuel Moseley for the season with a torn ACL, but because this is what the Lions do maybe better than any team in the league. They find the guys that other teams have given up on and they make them solid players. 

They've done it with Jared Goff, Charles Harris, John Cominsky, Romeo Okwara, Jamaal Williams, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond and so on. This team is at an expert level with reclamation projects.

Williams should be their next one. It's insane that this 25 year old kid isn't on a team right now. He's not "diva" or a "locker room cancer." The wrap on Williams as a teammate has been a good one.

I'm not saying that you sign him and throw him onto the 53-man roster right away. Williams would be a good addition to the practice squad. You can take your time with him there and see if things are fixable before you elevate him up. Aaron Glenn, being a former NFL cornerback himself, would be a good mentor for Williams and could help coach him up. 

This isn't all the Lions can do here to help with defensive back depth, maybe they get involved in the trade market with the deadline coming in a couple weeks, but this is a move that's worth making. If there's something in Williams, I have no doubt this is one of the teams that could get it out of him.