Roy Williams to Big D…it’s time to put up or shut up
The NFL trading deadline is usually a non event, as teams have difficulty absorbing new players into their salary cap structure in the middle of the season, much less working them into their playbooks. But the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions consummated a notable deal yesterday:
Dallas receives:
- WR Roy Williams
- 7th round pick in 2010
Detroit receives:
- 1st round pick in 2009
- 3rd round pick in 2009
- 6th round pick in 2009
The Cowboys moved quickly to lock up Williams to a 5-year, $45mm extension that includes $20mm in guarantees.
That’s an enormous commitment for a guy with one 1,000-yard season in his five years in the league. Williams has all the physical tools (6′2″, 212 pounds) to be a dominant NFL receiver, but a combination of situation + minor injuries + attitude have kept him from realizing his considerable potential.
I’m not going to make any grand proclamation about what Williams will do now in Dallas, but I will say that if he doesn’t perform like an elite receiver, I’ll NEVER draft him in a fantasy league from here on out. Why? Because his situation couldn’t be any better for a huge turnaround:
- He moves from a team with a losing tradition, to “America’s Team”
- He moves from Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky to Tony Romo [and Brad Johnson for the next 4 games]
- He moves from being the veteran WR1 to being the younger WR2
- He has Terrell Owens commanding double teams
- He has Jason Witten opening up the middle
- He’s being PAID
- He’s on a winner
- He’s a Texas kid back in his home state
- He’s got an excellent offensive coordinator calling plays
Roy…time to put up or shut up. And fantasy owners, if Roy doesn’t deliver for you now, he probably never will.
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