Bucs sign Mike Williams to four-year deal
Today the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reached a four-year agreement with rookie wide receiver Mike Williams, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. The deal is worth $3.15 million.
"I love this game, so I urged my agent, Hadley Engelhard, to reach an agreement quickly," Williams said in a statement issued by the team (via Cummings). "I am focused on the opportunity to contribute to the team and am very excited to be a Tampa Bay Buccaneer."
Williams missed a season at Syracuse due to academic suspension and also missed the final three games last year after he quit the team. But Daniel Jeremiah, who's now in the Eagles' scouting department, tweeted (after the Draft) that Williams was a "sleeper rookie of the year candidate."
It's off-the-field (or "in-school," as Williams calls it) issues that caused Williams to drop all the way to the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. If it weren't for those "in-school" issues, Williams might have been a first-round pick.
"I'm not a bad guy,'' Williams said shortly after being drafted in late April. "I didn't have off-the-field issues. I just had some in-school issues. ..."
In my rookie fantasy rankings, I ranked Williams as the fifth-best rookie fantasy wide receiver. Fellow rookie receiver and teammate Arrelious Benn is third on the list.
