The time has come for Mario Williams to realize he is no longer that guy.
When a great football player starts to decline, it’s not so gradual, he falls off a cliff. He falls off that cliff so fast, he doesn’t realize he’s are no longer a great football player. This process started for former great DE Mario Williams back in 2015.
He went from 14.5 sacks in 2014 to five in 2015 and blamed former Buffalo Bills HC Rex Ryan for it. He talked about how Ryan didn’t use him right and that he had him dropping into coverage too much. Then of course, Ryan spoke of he he just isn’t that effective anymore and cut him.
It’s always interesting to see who is right when a coach and a player do battle like that. In this case both of them are right as Ryan led the Bills to a Top-10 draft pick and Williams had 1.5 sacks in 2016. Of course, Ryan was relieved of his duties at the end of this past season.
And Williams was cut by the Miami Dolphins, the second team to cut him in two years, Thursday. He was scheduled to make $8.485 million in 2017 and was to count $10.5 million against the salary cap. By cutting him, Miami saves $8.5 million on the cap.
However, the Dolphins will be paying $2 million in dead money in 2017. Williams was a major disappointment for Miami after signing a two-year, $17 million contract last year. He had more injuries (concussion and ankle) than he had sacks in 2016.
It was a great career for Williams but the Sun is setting!
It’s time to go home!