Jameson Williams agreed to terms on his fully guaranteed rookie contract Thursday, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). The Lions now have both their 2022 first-rounders signed, after having inked No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson to his rookie deal earlier this week.
The No. 12 overall pick, Williams will be tied to his rookie deal for at least three seasons and can be under Lions control through 2026 (via the fifth-year option). He is set to earn around $17.5MM on this contract.
Detroit traded its Nos. 32 and 34 picks to Minnesota to climb up for Williams, who zoomed onto the draft radar after his dominant season at Alabama. Williams joins DJ Chark as key offseason receiver additions for a Lions team that featured one of the NFL’s worst wideout situations in 2021.
Playing behind the likes of Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave at Ohio State, Williams transferred to an Alabama squad that had just lost DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. The Crimson Tide put the slender speedster to work immediately, and Williams posted a monster season — 79 receptions, 1,572 yards, 15 touchdowns — as a junior to help the SEC powerhouse to another national championship game.
The torn ACL Williams suffered in that loss to Georgia did not impact his draft stock much, but the 179-pound pass catcher is expected to begin the season on the PUP list. Many NFL evaluators expect Williams to be out until November, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, though the rebuilding Lions are likely fine playing the long game with the recovering prospect.
In addition to signing Williams, the Lions and third-round safety Kerby Joseph agreed on the terms of his rookie contract. The Lions took Jones 97th overall out of Illinois. His four-year deal is worth just more than $5MM, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press notes.
Lions destroyed the Vikings in this trade up
it was a great trade .. Vikings have/had serious cap issues .. There’s roughly a 5 million dollar difference between the 12th pick and 32nd pick .. Vikings saved money and still landed a top 3 prospect (at the position) ..Lions (no such cap issues) got their guy .. its the rare everybody wins deal
This was the most sensible comment I’ve seen anyone post about this topic.
And I’m not being a smart ass…kudos to you sir
I would say there’s a significant trade value discrepancy so you can spin anyway you like. They sent back a 2nd round pick. That’s huge and the trading up team didn’t pay a premium.
With the subsequent trades this is how things shook out:
Lions get Vikings 12 and 46 (overall picks).
Vikings get Lions 32 and 66, Colts 42, Raiders 165, 169 and 127 and Packers 59.
Packers get Lions 34 and Raiders 22
Colts get Raiders 53 and Vikings 77 and 192
Raiders get Colts 122, Vikings 250 and Packers Davonte Adams
See, it all makes sense now.
Glad Jameson is with the medical staff and hopefully he comes back as strong as ever.
I’m excited about Kerby Joseph and what he brings to the secondary. I see big things from him day 1.