The Cleveland Browns need help in the wide receiver department. Mike Williams of the Chargers is available in free agency and could help spark the Cleveland offense
Mike Williams is a very talented wide receiver and has helped his team, the Los Angeles Chargers return to being one of the best offenses in the NFL. His young and talented quarterback Justin Herbert has been able to maximize Williams’s talents these last couple of seasons.
However, despite a winning record this past year at 9-8, they haven’t been to the playoffs since 2018 when the Chargers finished at 12-4. Williams is now a high-profile free agent that will be available to start talking to other NFL teams in early March when the free agency window opens in mid-March.
Despite, the success he’s achieved with the Chargers, will he look to sign elsewhere, and could the Cleveland Browns swoop in and try and sign the former first-round pick from Clemson?
He was paid $15 million this past season and will likely expect that and more with his next contract. The Browns have roughly $25 million in cap space according to OverTheCap.com to sign players in free agency. Cleveland could release a few players this offseason as well, including their current wide receiver, Jarvis Landry. If the team were to release him, they’d save almost $15 million.
Landry had his worst year statistically of his career and with his best friend and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. taking a hike to Los Angeles to play for the Rams midseason and win himself a Super Bowl, maybe the Browns would be better off parting ways with the vocal leader of the team.
If the Browns were to zero in on Williams, the price tag for his services would be high, but it might be a piece to the team that could vault them to new heights and gets them back to being a full-fledged playoff contender.
From all the news out there in Los Angeles, Williams is well respected by his teammates and coaches and would be a player that would be difficult to pull away from the Chargers and the sunny skies of Los Angeles.
Cleveland has had their issues on offense well documented this past season and for the team to try and lure a player of William’s caliber to come play for them will take some real car salesman expertise to attract him and even listen to an offer. The biggest drawback right now seems to be the negativity surrounding Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield and questioning if he’d damaged goods after a year of injuries to his shoulder and legs.
Regardless, of his status moving forward, the Browns certainly need some better talent at the wide receiver position and Williams would be a big upgrade for the team.
Reason No. 1 for Cleveland Browns to sign Williams: An upgrade at wide receiver
The Cleveland Browns wide receivers were one of the worst groups of pass-catchers in the NFL last season. Second-year player Donovan Peoples-Jones led the team in receiving yards with 597 yards, followed by Landry with 570 yards. Their third receiver, Rashard Higgins, added 275 yards. Those three receivers combined for just six touchdowns.
Williams caught 76 passes for 1,146 yards and scored nine touchdowns by himself for the Chargers. Obviously, the Browns used their tight ends a lot in the offense, and players like David Njoku and Austin Hooper caught a combined 820 yards and seven touchdowns. That took away some of the numbers potentially gained by the wide receivers.
By bringing in a player like Williams, who can stretch the field and at the same time use his height, standing at 6-foot-4 to gobble up passes at will, can only help a dysfunctional Browns offense.
He’s been described as having a unique skill set. While showing a laid-back personality off the field he is super competitive during the games.
With all the upheaval this past season on the team with the Odell Beckham Jr. saga, the Browns need to find players that will give all their heart and soul on the field of play, and Williams certainly sounds like that type of player.
Reason No. 2 for Cleveland Browns to sign Williams: A reliable veteran
In the past three seasons, Williams has rarely missed a game. That’s important to find players that will stay the course and play regardless of if they feel slighted or have hurt feelings after coaches might try to coach them a bit.
When one reads about Williams, you get a sense he’s a player similar to the Cleveland Browns current running back Nick Chubb who only cares about winning the football game. The Charger coaches have described Williams in the same light.
Williams has been in the league now for five seasons. He’s had two seasons of receiving yards over1000 yards and he’s scored a total of 26 touchdowns.
At this point, some of you who want to keep Landry around will say that we have a reliable veteran already and we don’t need another player like Williams. If The Browns were to rework the Landry contract, then gaining a player like Williams would be a bonus.
When you go back and just look at the statistics and consider that both Williams and Landry were paid nearly the same this past season, it’s pretty obvious who got paid too much for doing very little. Landry had 570 yards receiving on 11 yards a catch average. For his career, Landry has never averaged more than 14 yards a catch. His yards per game were just 47 this past season.
On the other hand, Williams has averaged more than 15 yards a reception for four of his five seasons. He had a 15-yard average this year and was averaging 72 yards a game.
Reason No. 3 for Cleveland Browns to sign Williams: Big play threat
We saw it all season long, that despite the Browns having an excellent running attack on offense, the team still had trouble moving the ball with any consistency. Opponents weren’t scared of their passing attack and the receivers they had. They would crowd the line of scrimmage and dare Cleveland to try and run and force Mayfield into trying to win the game with his arm.
That’s why this offseason the team has been linked to possibly drafting a top-rated college wide receiver prospect at the No. 13 spot in the NFL Draft in April. There are several wide receivers that could help the Browns almost instantly. But they’d be a rookie and one doesn’t know for sure what they’re getting and how the player’s game will transition in the NFL until they actually start playing the games.
Williams wouldn’t be a rookie. He’d be in his sixth season and could be that spark to a very old and cranky car engine that just needs a boost. Williams was 10th in the league with catches over 20 yards with 17 of them. He led the NFL with nine catches over 40 yards.
He had his longest reception of 72 yards against the Browns in that midseason game out in LA when the Browns lost a barn burner 47-42. He had his second touchdown late in that game as well going for 42 yards.
Regardless of if Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is here or not come the regular season, Williams would provide the quarterback a down-the-field magnet. Mayfield has a big arm and can launch it so if the Browns front office could somehow work their magic and convince Williams that the offense and Mayfield would be in good shape if he were to join them then maybe the signing of Williams wouldn’t be that hard to imagine.