Tyrell Williams‘ second Raiders season will end before it starts. The team is placing the veteran wide receiver on IR, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
This comes a bit after news of Williams sustaining another torn shoulder labrum. Williams was planning to attempt to play through such an injury, as he did in college and with the Chargers on prior occasions, but this IR development may well indicate he will undergo surgery. That will indeed be Williams’ course of action, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Because the Raiders are not carrying Williams onto their regular-season roster, he will not be eligible to return from IR. That would not matter anyway. This surgery is expected to sideline Williams for around six months. Considering the team’s actions at receiver this offseason, it is certainly possible Williams will be elsewhere in 2021.
The Raiders opted to guarantee Williams’ $11MM base salary this season, but the team proceeded to draft Henry Ruggs in Round 1 and Bryan Edwards in Round 3. The latter has worked as a starter in camp, impressing the team ahead of his rookie season. With a Williams 2021 release set to provide $11.6MM in cap room, it is likely the team will opt for such savings in what could well be the biggest salary cap reduction in NFL history.
Last year, the Raiders brought in Williams to play as the No. 2 wideout alongside Antonio Brown. With Brown’s antics driving him out of Oakland before playing a game, more became expected of Williams. However, he recorded only 42 catches for 651 yards while battling injuries to both feet. With the rookies joining Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow in Las Vegas’ passing attack this year, Williams’ role may have been reduced. Instead, he will rehab ahead of his age-29 season in 2021.
That Brown & Williams tandem sure did work out well, didn’t it? When you bring in a nutcase and a guy with an injury history a mile long, I can imagine how shocking it must be when it doesn’t work.
I can’t wait until Gruden quits or is fired so they get someone who knows what they’re actually doing.
Only 8 more years of this!
Year 10 he will make the playoffs and get extended another decade
Mayo and gruden are doing great considering the roster they inherited!
The 2017 roster had Amari, Lynch, a stout OL and Khalil. The record wasn’t great, but the cupboard wasn’t bare when they took over.
Extend Khalil and Cooper and then what? You can’t have a good team with two max guys on it, especially when you inherited Carr.
The draft was the only clear way to get more than a few good players on your team for more than 2 years.
Thankfully we drafted 2 wrs in this years draft otherswise would like thin outside of renfrow.
I still don’t understand the contract. Williams was just an inconsistent deep threat and likely a product of Philip Rivers’ arm. Pairing him with Derek Carr, who’s known for his accuracy rather than his arm strength, made no sense whatsoever. Obvious overpay
Now Raider fans know why us Charger fans weren’t that upset when the Chargers let him walk. He was always dinged up.