The Miami Dolphins have signed Mario Williams to a two year $16 million contract. The former number one pick of the Houston Texans spent the last four seasons with the Buffalo Billls before becoming a cap casualty.
Williams registered double digit sacks in his first three seasons with Buffalo. However when Rex Ryan took over he changed the 4-3 defense Williams excelled in to a 3-4 defense. His numbers drastically fell off. He registered only 5 sacks, his lowest total since the 2011 season in which he only played five games.
The Williams signing clearly meant that either the Dolphins had planned on rescinding the transition tag placed on Oliver Vernon or cutting former pro bowler Cameron Wake.
Sources have reported that Wake isn’t going anywhere soon. Which points to Vernon moving on elsewhere.
This move has the potential to boom or bust for the cap strapped Phins. If the Dolphins gain a motivated and rejuvenated Williams at $8 million per year, it’s clearly a steal. However if Williams does prove to be on steep decline then they passed up on chance to lock up a player in his prime.
Two things have been made clear with the moves made so far. The first being that they are trying to build a bigger and more physical defense. Under Joe Philbin they were known as a small finesse defense. The second being that they still believe they can be major players in free agency and create a winning formula. All we can do is wait and see. As always, Phins Up!!
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