Philadelphia Eagles: Mario Williams Should Be A Priority

The Philadelphia Eagles and Mario Williams are a perfect fit, so the Eagles need to make Williams a priority in free agency.

Mario Williams has had an up and down career since entering the league in 2006. He was drafted first overall by the Houston Texans and in six seasons with them, Williams complied 53 sacks with the most coming in 2007 when he had 14. He would enter free agency after the 2011 season because he only had five sacks and had his position changed.

Williams chose to sign with the Buffalo Bills on a six-year $100 million contract with $49.5 million guaranteed.

In Buffalo, Williams started to flash the ability he had when he was the first overall pick back in 2006 and he got the quarterback to the ground 43 times, but only in four seasons. His best year in Buffalo was 2014 when he had a career high 14.5 sacks.

Williams, just like in Houston, had only five sacks in his last season with the Bills, so they decided to part ways with their defensive end.

Williams is now a free agent and there is one team that needs to make sure they try whatever they can to get him.

That team is the Philadelphia Eagles.

Yes, the Eagles have Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry and Connor Barwin already as defensive ends, but adding Williams should be a priority this off-season.

Why? The Eagles new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

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Schwartz was Williams’ defensive coordinator in 2014 when Williams had the best year of his 10-year career. Even though he has played 10 seasons already, Williams still has some gas in the tank and the one coach that can get Williams going until he is on empty would be Schwartz.

Williams earned his money in 2014 and so did Schwartz because the two were a perfect match. Buffalo actually led the NFL in sacks in 2014 with 54 because of the two, so you can see what they could do if they got together again.

Schwartz runs an aggressive defense that thrives on getting pressure on the quarterback, so the Eagles need to add someone who can help.

That player who can help will be Williams.

Dec 26, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox (91) reacts after a sacking Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins (not pictured) during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

It will be interesting to see what kind of contract Williams will look for, or if he will even have interest in joining the Eagles after all of the dysfunction that went on in 2015, but the Eagles need to try and get his attention.

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The Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is one of the best in the NFL, so adding another player who can get to the quarterback could make this defensive line dangerous.

Imagine it is third down and a passing situation, so the Eagles defensive line come out and looks like this: Williams, Graham, Cox, and Curry. Good luck trying to find time throwing the football.

The Eagled were ranked 17^th in the NFL with only 37 sacks in 2015, so adding Williams will definitely help get them higher in 2016.

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People always put the blame on the secondary, but the 2015 Super Bowl champions, the Denver Broncos, were first in the NFL in 2015 with 52 sacks. Sacks are an important part of a defenses success and they are the most important in Schwartz’s defenses success.

If the Eagles want to get their defense to another level next year, getting Schwartz to run it was a big step, but signing Williams in free agency should be the next one.

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