Jaguars can remove WR Mike William’s name from free agency wish list

The dominos are falling ahead of free agency. The wide receiver is taking shape and it looks like Mike Williams won’t be a viable option for the Jacksonville Jaguars or any other team that was interested in making a run for him.

Los Angeles Chargers “aren’t going to let Williams go” and are willing to slap him with the franchise tag if they can’t reach a long-term deal, per Tyler Dragon of USA Today. This doesn’t come as a surprise since Williams has become an important cog in the Bolts’ offense. A first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Clemson product was hardly a factor as a rookie, hauling in 11 receptions for 95 yards and no touchdowns, but he’s logged two 1,000-yard seasons over the last four years.

Jacksonville saw as a potential destination for Williams due to their need at wide receiver and the robust amount of cap space they are set to have at their disposal, $54.9 million per Spotrac. But if the Chargers are willing to do whatever it takes to keep Williams, the Jags will have to look somewhere else for help. Fortunately, there are a few enticing alternatives.

The Jaguars will still have options at wide receiver in free agency.

Mike Williams isn’t the only wide receiver that will be off the market. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers want to keep Chris Godwin and could use the franchise tag if necessary. That means there will be two fewer options available in free agency but there will still be alternatives for the Jaguars. Allen Robinson will most likely be the top one but the Dallas Cowboys are likely to release Amari Cooper, and he will surely garner plenty of demand.

Similarly, Cedrick Wilson and Russell Gage are slated to hit the open market and it doesn’t currently look like their respective clubs — the Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons — will retain them. While they are a tier below Robinson and Goodwin, they still can come in and help the Jaguars. Also, signing either Wilson or Gage would be cheaper, so there’s that.

Of course, the Jaguars can always re-sign DJ Chark Jr. The fact that other clubs are high on him should give them second thoughts about possibly letting him walk in free agency. Bringing back Chark wouldn’t be cheap but it wouldn’t be cost-prohibitive either and the team’s brass has the means to make him a reasonable offer. He’s shown he can get it done and head coach Doug Pederson has said he wants the wide receiver to return.

Had Williams hit the open market, there would have likely been a high demand for his services. On the bright side, the Jaguars will still have options available and should come out of free agency with a few new weapons for their offense.