Out since suffering a knee injury in Week 1, Jonah Williams would be eligible to return next week. It does not look like the Arizona free agency acquisition will come particularly close to that, and his availability for the season’s remainder is murky.
Williams played 22 snaps in his Cardinals debut, leaving and landing on IR soon after. The Cardinals have kept their cards close to the vest on the former first-round pick’s availability, but ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler indicates the veteran tackle’s season is in jeopardy.
It is not known what specific knee injury Williams suffered, but it probably is not an ACL tear. That would remove the uncertainty about this situation, as Fowler adds a November return has been floated. Considerable doubt exists, however, about whether that is realistic. As it stands, the Cardinals may be forced to scramble at right tackle the rest of the way.
Costs are low on Arizona’s O-line beyond Williams, who signed a two-year, $30MM deal in March. Williams came over a year after requesting a trade (and then backtracking) from the Bengals, and despite that trade ask aimed at being moved to a team that would station him at left tackle, the 2019 first-round pick signed with a team planning to slot him on the right side.
The Cardinals cut longtime left tackle D.J. Humphries but moved 2023 first-rounder Paris Johnson Jr. from RT to LT — in a move that followed Humphries’ early-career trajectory. (Humphries suffered an ACL tear in Week 17 of last season; he is not believed to be healthy enough to pass a physical.)
Johnson has stayed healthy and has played well; Pro Football Focus ranks the second-year blocker ninth among all tackles. The advanced metrics site views Williams’ replacement, Kelvin Beachum, as a top-40 option. The Cardinals retained Beachum last year despite drafting Johnson sixth overall last year, keeping the 35-year-old blocker around as a swingman. That insurance has become important this season, one that featured Kyler Murray‘s return to full-time duty.
Williams, 27, missed all of his rookie year due to a shoulder injury and saw a dislocated kneecap sideline him for the bulk of the Bengals’ 2022 playoff run. He returned on time in 2023 and played all 17 Cincinnati games, commanding a quality short-term contract on a weak tackle market. Cardinals guaranteed $2.5MM of Williams’ $10.78MM 2025 base salary. A $2.5MM injury guarantee also exists in the contract for 2025; that would kick in if the sixth-year vet cannot pass a physical to start the ’25 league year.