ESPN’s Clayton: Mario Williams not a good fit for Cardinals
Mar 4, 2016, 9:10 AM | Updated: 1:08 pm
Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams (94) stands on the field during the warm-up before the NFL game between Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Free agency begins in the National Football League in just a few days and former Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams remains a hot topic around these parts.
The Arizona Cardinals are in the market for a pass rusher this offseason and Williams and his 96 career sacks would seem to be a fit for the defending NFC West champions.
Not so fast, says ESPN NFL insider John Clayton.
“He should not go to a 3-4 team,” Clayton told Doug and Wolf Friday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “If you’re him, don’t do it. Don’t worry about the money. You took the money and got the $16 million and had decent success in Buffalo, but they kept switching to a 3-4, now you’re out.
“You’re better served to go to a team like Tampa Bay or Oakland, go to a 4-3 team. I think that’s where he’s going to go.”
The Cardinals do employ a 3-4 defense under coordinator James Bettcher. Williams, who had 14.5 sacks for the Bills in 2014 in a 4-3 defense, saw that total fall to just five last year under new head coach Rex Ryan’s 3-4 scheme. Williams was disgruntled for much of the season and complained about having to drop into pass coverage too often in Buffalo.
Clayton believes Williams, who is 31, can still be productive, but for a team where the fit is good.
“I think there is going to be a very strong market for him,” Clayton said. “What he’s going through at the age of 31 is kind of like what Julius Peppers went through when he was 30 and he got a big contract from Chicago. Look at the numbers — Peppers has had something like 45 sacks in his 30s.
“Mario Williams is just kind of entering his 30s, so I think he could easily hop aboard a team.”
In 2010, Peppers signed a massive six-year, $84 million contract with Chicago, where he’d spend the next four years, racking up 37.5 sacks. After being released by the Bears in 2014, he signed a three-year, $26 million deal with the Green Bay Packers, where he has produced 17.5 sacks over the last two years, including 10.5 in 2015 at the age of 35.
