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He’s back: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the New Orleans Saints have reached an agreement on a one-year contract extension with defensive back P.J. Williams, bringing badly-needed experience into their secondary. The deal is valued at a fully-guaranteed $2.3 million. That’s a slight pay raise from the $2.01 million he earned last season.
Williams has gone year-to-year with the Saints in recent free agency cycles, so this isn’t surprising. But he did successfully make the position switch to free safety in 2020, so his future on the field is a bit muddied. Still, having someone with his versatility in the slot, out wide, in the box and over the top is valuable. He also logged 100-plus snaps on special teams.
Still just 27, Williams has spent his entire 69-game NFL career (including 7 postseason appearances) in New Orleans after being selected in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft out of Florida State. He’s picked up a love-hate relationship with Saints fans owing to occasional mistakes in coverage and penalties, but the team needs depth players like him to round out the depth chart. Think of him as the defense’s version of offensive lineman James Hurst, who was also re-upped this week.
New Orleans only had a few hundred thousand dollars in salary cap space before re-signing him, so it shows how important he is to them in the role he plays. Expect plenty of nickel and dime personnel in 2021 from the Saints defense with Williams continuing to help from a wide array of spots.