The Eagles on Friday afternoon signed once-promising cornerback Trevor Williams to a reserve/futures contract.
Williams, 26, was once thought to be an up-and-coming player until injuries seemed to derail his career.
Coming out of Penn State in 2016, Williams went undrafted but found a landing spot with the Chargers in their last year in San Diego. As a rookie, he played in 12 games and started five.
In his second season in 2017, though, Williams played in all 16 games and started 15. He had two interceptions and 13 pass-breakups. He graded out as the 10th-best cornerback in the NFL in 2017, according to ProFootballFocus.
There was reason to believe he was going to be a good player.
But in 2018, Williams played in just nine games (seven starts) before he finally landed on Injured Reserve. Even before he went on IR, Williams dealt with an ankle injury and then it was a knee injury that ended his season.
He came into the 2019 offseason with high expectations and feeling healthy but it didn’t last long. He suffered a quad injury in the summer and was placed on IR before the season. In October, the Chargers waived him off their injured list and he was claimed by the Cardinals.
NFL
With Arizona, Williams played in two games in 2019 before he was released. He has been without a team since.
In his four-year career, Williams has played in 39 career games with 27 starts. He has some real NFL experience.
Sure, an oft-injured player coming to the Eagles to try to escape those injuries is a scary concept after the past couple seasons. But with the uncertainty at the position in Philadelphia, it would stand to reason that Williams actually has a shot to stick around.
Both Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills are set to become free agents in March and it’s not like Rasul Douglas, Sidney Jones, Avonte Maddox or Cre’Von LeBlanc are exactly Pro Bowlers either. Williams won’t be the answer to the Eagles’ long-standing problems at cornerback but given their history and their need for corners, his name might be one to remember when the team gets back together in the spring.
Williams is the ninth player the Eagles have signed to a reserve/futures contract since the end of the season. The other eight were on their practice squad this year.
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