Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly interested in Mario Williams

The NFL’s “legal” tampering period for free agency began Monday at noon meaning teams were now free to talk and negotiate with players and their agents. Nobody can sign just yet, but we as fans can at least have an idea of which teams are interested in which players.

According to reports, the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of a few teams interested in recently released Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams.

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The Jaguars desperately need pass rush help and Williams has been effective at doing just that over the course of his career. He’s coming off what was easily his worst season as a professional but some wonder whether it was the fault of Williams or a bad scheme fit with Rex Ryan.

Either way, Williams is going to get paid based purely off potential – a factor he’s milked since he entered the league. Williams is a good pass rusher, but I certainly wouldn’t classify him as an elite player. He seemingly takes plays off and can disappear for long stretches of a game.

Additionally, the report in the tweet above is pretty damning – if Williams is saying he’ll sign with a team offering $10 million a year and he still hasn’t signed with anyone… well he must not be getting offered such a hefty contract.

While I certainly wouldn’t be mad about the Jaguars signing Williams, I would much rather general manager David Caldwell call up Olivier Vernon‘s agent and overpay him, a young and ascending pass rusher, as opposed to a guy near the end of his career who is clearly just looking for another paycheck.