Dallas Cowboys: Mario Williams Is A No-Go In Free Agency
By Randy Gurzi
The Dallas Cowboys are often tied to players with big names and little recent production, which means Mario Williams will come up, but he shouldn’t.
Defensive end Mario Williams was the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft when the Houston Texans famously took him over USC running back Reggie Bush. Williams proved to be the better choice, but eventually left Houston and headed for Buffalo.
Once in western New York, the 290-pound pass rusher really saw his career take off. From 2012-14, he recorded at least 10 sacks as he was part of one of the toughest defensive lines in the league. In 2015, though, things fell off as he had just five sacks for the Bills. He was then let go and wound up in Miami, a pairing that lasted just one season as Williams recorded just 13 tackles and one and a half sack.
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He was cut by Miami this week and, with the Dallas Cowboys needing help at defensive end, it’s only a matter of time the two are linked. Before that happens, let’s just say this—Mario Williams is not going to be a Cowboy.
Despite his lack of production the past two seasons, some will think he can help the pass rush starved team. He can’t. There’s also a belief that Dallas goes after every big name free agent that gets cut. They don’t.
Since the Terrell Owens era in Dallas subsided, the Cowboys really haven’t been players in free agency. This front office makes a living by finding studs in the draft and discount free agents like running back Darren McFadden and defensive tackle Cedric Thornton. Going after the big names in free agency based solely on the value of the name hasn’t been their game.
Next: Late-Round Pass-Rushing Targets for Cowboys
The Cowboys learned from their mistakes in the past when experimenting with aged players recently cast off, so don’t try and connect Williams to Big D.