Mario

Williams

Williams earned $18 million in 2011. The mandatory franchise-tag raise would push his 2012 salary to a prohibitive $22.9 million, leaving Williams with quite a bit of leverage in contract talks. Williams’ preference is to stay in Houston, but his agent surely realizes there’s a good chance the best pass rusher on the market will break the bank in free agency. The Chargers and Raiders are two of the many teams sure to be interested if Williams hits the open market.

Corkran admits it’s purely “speculation,” presumably based on new coach Dennis Allen’s history with Colston and Harper. Opining that Darrius Heyward-Bey is still ideally a No. 3 receiver despite his furious finish to the 2011 season, Corkran also believes Vincent Jackson is a “very viable option” in free agency. We see the Raiders as having higher priorities than wide receiver.

The 6-foot-8 center experiment is finally coming to a close, as the Raiders realized having Veldheer at left tackle makes their line significantly better. That being said, expect Mario Williams to have his way with whoever is trying to protect QB Bruce Gradkowski’s blind side.

Anthony Weaver, Williams, Jason Babin, and Robaire Smith all having some position flexibility, the Texans can get creative with their pass rush. Williams IDP owners wouldn’t be happy if he moved to tackle often.

Gross. The No. 1 pick had recently struggled with toe infections. He’ll be out a week or so and is expected to resume practicing next Friday.

The guaranteed money in the contract is initially $21.75 million, and then jumps to $26.5 million. The basic value of the deal could jump from $54 million to $62.1 million with incentives. The lack of a signing bonus is growing trend for rookies as teams massage the cap, but guarantee more future salary.

He only dropped into coverage twice. Williams’ two tackles went for sacks, and he also forced a fumble. The Colts foolishly left Dallas Clark in to block Williams one-on-one for both sacks, so we’d wait a bit before declaring Williams’ position conversion a true success. Regardless, it’s clear the Texans want him to rush the passer only, and not cover running backs or tight ends.

A torn pectoral muscle would likely end Williams’ season, but there’s no word on the severity yet. Prior to the injury, Williams racked up his fifth sack in five games. He’s been replaced by Brooks Reed opposite Connor Barwin.

He’ll have a Monday MRI. Williams’ five sacks rank second in the AFC, behind only Richard Seymour (7), so his loss would be a big blow to a Houston defense that has made major strides under first-year coordinator Wade Phillips. Williams’ backup is rookie Brooks Reed, who doesn’t have a sack this year and is still learning outside linebacker after playing defensive end at Arizona.