HEADLINES

Aaron Williams

AFC Notes: Pryor, Hill, Bills

April 19th, 2014 at 1:05pm CST by Matt Feminis

The Raiders will cut Terrelle Pryor if they can’t find a trade partner by Monday, reports Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez (via Twitter). The news portends an inevitable conclusion to Pryor’s time in Oakland, as the writing has been on the wall since the team traded for Matt Schaub and declared confidence in Matt McGloin as the backup.

Here’s a handful more AFC notes:

  • The Broncos are nearing decision time on Von Miller, who is eligible for a fifth-year option, and ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold details the figures, options and factors involved. Even if the team decides against the fifth-year option in the short-term, franchising Miller next year is a realistic possibility assuming he returns healthy from his ACL injury and gets back to his impact form (30 sacks between 2011 and 2012).
  • In a mailbag, ESPNNewYork.com’s Jane McManus shares her opinion that, in theory, the Jets “have already moved on” from 2012 second-rounder Stephen Hill, who has been a bust through two seasons.
  • The Bills are set at one safety spot with Aaron Williams, who is locked up until 2018. However, despite an uninspiring trio of competitors for the other starting position (Da’Norris Searcy, Duke Williams and Jonathan Meeks), the team does not seem motivated to pluck one of the top-rated safety prospects, writes Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. Rodak speculates the Bills likely won’t address safety in the draft until the middle or late rounds if at all, saying, “They could also wait another year, see what they have in those two second-year players, and re-assess the position after this season.”

Bills Sign Aaron Williams To Extension

March 5th, 2014 at 10:06am CST by Luke Adams

The Bills have officially locked up safety Aaron Williams with a contract extension, the team announced today (Twitter link). As a member of the 2011 draft class, Williams had one year remaining on his rookie contract, and was eligible for a new deal for the first time this offseason.

Mike Garafolo of USA Today reports (via Twitter) that Williams’ new pact is a four-year contract worth $26MM, which will keep the young safety under contract through 2018. The deal also includes another $1.25MM in incentives, so it could max out at a total of $27.25MM. According to Pro Football Talk (Twitter link), $14.625MM of the contract is guaranteed, including a $6.5MM signing bonus.

Williams, who turns 24 in April, started 14 games for the Bills in 2013, grabbing four interceptions and logging 82 tackles, both easily career highs. The former second-round pick also ranked 28th among 86 qualified safeties according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, giving Buffalo a formidable safety duo consisting of Williams and Jairus Byrd.

With Byrd seemingly set to hit the open market, Williams looks like the most logical in-house replacement, as ESPN.com’s Mike Rodak noted earlier this week. However, Bills CEO Russ Brandon stressed that Williams’ deal is “completely independent” of any other negotiations involving the team (Twitter link via Joe Buscaglia of WGR550). In other words, the extension doesn’t preclude a return to Buffalo for Byrd, even if that possibility is looking increasingly less likely. Re-signing Byrd would likely mean committing $15MM+ per year to the team’s two starting safeties, which probably wouldn’t be the best use of the Bills’ money.

Williams, the 34th overall pick in 2011, is the fourth member of the draft class to sign an extension this offseason. Center Jason Kelce (Eagles), center Daniel Kilgore (49ers), and defensive back Taiwan Jones (Raiders) have also inked new deals.

Byrd Notes: Falcons, Browns, Jets, Bills

March 3rd, 2014 at 8:58pm CST by Peter Sowards

The deadline for teams to apply their franchise and transition tags has come and gone, and the Bills announced earlier today they would not tag three-time Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd.

Now it’s time for beat writers from safety-needy teams to look at whether the former Oregon product who played the 2013 season on a franchise tender would be worth his hefty price tag.

When D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta-Journal Constitution ranked his five free agent targets for the Falcons, he ranked Byrd No. 1. Atlanta will be $26.7MM beneath the salary cap once Tony Gonzalez‘s $7MM slot is removed, and Ledbetter cites the potential upgrade Byrd would present over incumbent free safety Thomas DeCoud, whom the Falcons are expected to release, as justification.

But, there’s only so much money you can invest in one position, as ESPN Atlanta Falcons reporter Vaughn McClure points out. Strong safety William Moore enters year two of a five-year, $29.51M contract, and Byrd figures to command a substantially larger deal.

Other Byrd notes from around the league…

  • When the Browns placed the transition tag on center Alex Mack earlier today, they gave up their exclusive rights of T.J. Ward, another top-tier safety hitting free agency. ESPN Browns reporter Pat McManamon looks at the potential for a Byrd/Ward swap of sorts, reuniting Byrd with Cleveland head coach and former Buffalo defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.
  • The Jets haven’t paid top dollar for a safety since Kerry Rhodes‘ $33.5MM deal in 2008, ESPNNewYork.com reporter Rich Cimini notes, but Byrd is worth investigating. Cimini’s gut tells him the team will likely look again to Dawan Landry and Antonio Allen in 2014, but with 22 interceptions since 2009 and six against the Jets, Byrd should draw the organization’s eye.
  • Aaron Williams, a second-round pick in 2011, tops the list of likely replacements for Byrd in Buffalo, with younger players Duke Williams, Jonathan Meeks and Jujuan Harley as long shots, per ESPN Bills reporter Mike Rodak.