Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Arizona Cardinals
By Kenn Korb
We’ve embarked on a series looking at free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should pursue on teams which sat out the 2017 playoffs. Next up: the Arizona Cardinals.
After reaching the playoffs every year from 2011-15, the Cincinnati Bengals fell short of the postseason for the second year in a row. Now they await NFL Free Agency in 2018, which could be key for them getting back in the mix.
Entering the offseason, we started with a series that highlighted players from playoff teams that the Bengals could look at in free agency. Now, the focus has turned to the other teams that weren’t in the postseason.
We’ve previously taken a look at players from the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Ravens, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets,Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Seattle Seahawks. We continue with the Arizona Cardinals.
Tramon Williams, CB
Williams has long been an underrated talent. He began his pro career as an undrafted afterthought way back in 2006, when the Texans gave him a chance to make their team. When they didn’t believe in him though, he ended up as a cheap flyer for the Green Bay Packers.
They obviously saw something in him, but nobody would’ve guessed what he would end up bringing to the table. In eight seasons with the team, he methodically grew into being an elite No. 1 cornerback, even if most people weren’t able to recognize how great he was as it was happening. Just look at his stats over his time in green and gold: 465 tackles, 4.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 28 interceptions, 117 pass knockdowns.
Nothing shows his dominance more than the 2010 season. A sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, six interceptions, and 20 pass knockdowns in the regular season alone. In the playoffs, he was arguably the non-QB MVP for the team across Green Bay’s postseason run. He had the game-sealing interception against Philadelphia in the Wild Card Round. Then, he had interceptions on consecutive drives against Atlanta (including an pick-six) to blow a close game wide open.
Though those days are well in the past, Williams is still proving capable of being a quality piece of a defense in the right role. Last year, he actually earned his best-ever grade from Pro Football Focus Edge (88.8) — even better than what we saw from his awesome 2010 season (88.4). The role he had last year is drastically different from his 2010 one, though. Bringing him in to be a shutdown corner would be a mistake. If he’s added into a specific role with great pieces already around him though, there’s no reason he can’t have a repeat of 2017.
Look no further than Cincinnati for a perfect encapsulation of that opportunity. Williams aligned across from a star shutdown corner in Patrick Peterson; William Jackson III showed in 2017 he is well on his way to being that for the Bengals already. Arizona had great pass rushing talent up front to help out their coverage; for much of last year Cincinnati had one of the league’s better pass rushes, and it would be surprising if that didn’t continue next year.
Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Post-Combine 3-Round projection
Cincinnati definitely needs some help in coverage. Besides Jackson III, there is a lot left to be desired. Dre Kirkpatrick was not up to the task of being the No. 1 guy (despite being paid to do exactly that). Josh Shaw took a step back in a bigger role. Darqueze Dennard has one season of decent play under his belt.
In some form or fashion, help must be added to this group, and no available corner out there would add better value for a cheap price (always important when discussing Cincinnati) than Williams.