No one has played more defensive snaps than Marcus Williams for Dennis Allen since the New Orleans Saints drafted him back in 2017, with Williams totaling 4,778 snaps — that’s more than Cameron Jordan (4,392), Marshon Lattimore (4,345), and everyone else. He’s exactly the type of ascending young talent, heavily familiar with the established system, that a team would like to hold onto.
But he’s headed out of town after agreeing to sign with the Baltimore Ravens on a five-year contract valued at $70 million, with $37 million in guarantees. Good for him. Williams has earned it after putting in years of hard work to recover from his gaffe in the playoffs his rookie year. From the Saints’ perspective, though, this might be a disaster. A lot of the continuity Allen was touted for when they promoted him to head coach is walking out the door.
The Saints don’t have an easy replacement for Williams on the roster. Safeties Malcolm Jenkins and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are both entering the final year of their contracts, and while they’re each very effective in their established roles neither of them have the range to hang back as the last line of defense like Williams.
Alternatives are thinning out in free agency, too; while New Orleans could bring back a hometown favorite in longtime Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, his skills set doesn’t overlap much with Williams. That would require retooling some things and playing more two-high coverages than the single-high looks favored with Williams.
It’s one thing if Williams was leaving on a market-setting contract that the Saints can’t afford to match. But averaging $14 million per year lines up with past offers they’ve been rumored to make. It’s a fair price for a veteran starter, especially one who knows your scheme inside and out. New Orleans could have made room in their budget for that. Maybe they did, and Williams decided it was time for him to go join a team with a better-established quarterback under center. We won’t know until he’s asked about it.
Either way, this is a rough look for Allen. It isn’t a death knell for his future as the team’s head coach. But he’s just lost a premier free agent that he personally helped draft and develop into one of the best players at his position. It’s disappointing. With that said, we can’t properly judge this until the other shoe drops and we find out what the replacement plan is. Maybe the Saints make a smart move and come out ahead in the end.
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