Cornerback Darious Williams didn’t know where he would land after his Super Bowl LVI victory with the Los Angeles Rams in February, but it later became clear as free agency closed in. With multiple offers on the table, that team ended up being the one in his hometown of Jacksonville, who he had a feeling he would join all alone.
“As soon as free agency hit and my agent said the Jaguars were coming after me, of course, I had to put a little pause on there to see what other teams were talking about, but I just knew it would be nothing like coming home,” Williams said to the media Friday. “I pretty much knew the whole time it was going to be the Jags. Of course, you still want to see just to see and not jump into stuff so quick. I couldn’t wait to come back home.”
Of course, Williams’ family was just as eager as he was when the reports came out of the Jags’ interest in him. However, Williams said his father was the most interested to find out as he called his son multiple times to see if a decision had been made.
“I was texting my dad pretty much the whole time and he just kept talking like, ‘The Jags? Are you coming to the Jags?’ I was like, ‘I don’t really know. I don’t really know.’ They were too excited,” Williams said. “I think he knew because I kept saying I don’t know. There are way excited, too excited. They were here the whole day having a blast.”
Now, the ink has dried on the three-year $30 million contract, and Williams is set to join the Jags secondary that could use his experience. The group could leap in 2022, could have a pair of second-year players starting in Andre Cisco and Tyson Campbell.
Williams also helps out a Jags secondary group that had questionable depth at cornerback behind Campbell and Shaquill Griffin in 2021, which is pretty significant. As a result of his contract, many feel he’s the Jags’ future nickelback, but regardless of where Williams plays, it seems like the team could be getting a player that makes the unit overall better.
