Damien Williams has signed a new two-year contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs after showing strong following Kareem Hunt’s release.
The Kansas City Chiefs like what they’ve seen from running back Damien Williams in recent weeks enough to make sure he’s around this team’s offense through at least the 2020 season.
Williams originally signed this last offseason for $1.2 million for one year after spending his first four years with the Miami Dolphins.
The soon to be unrestricted free agent signed a 2-year contract extension, per Terez Paylor of Yahoo! Sports, on Thursday.
The #Chiefs and RB Damien Williams have agree to terms on a 2-year extension, per agent @iangreengross. He gets a max value of $8.1M on the extension. He’s eclipsed 100 yards in each of the last two games.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 28, 2018
Williams had only three carries and three receptions total for the first 11 games of the season, but injuries and circumstances allowed Williams to shine in recent weeks and he took full advantage. In the last three games, Williams has 5 touchdowns and he put up 130 yards rushing on 13 carries against the Seattle Seahawks in a losing effort.
The Chiefs released starting running back Kareem Hunt when a video surfaced in early December of him shoving and kicking a woman—an incident about which he lied to the Chiefs stemming from last February. Spencer Ware, his replacement, was lost to injury over the last two weeks due to issues with both his shoulder and hamstring. Both events allowed Williams to enter the spotlight for the Chiefs down the stretch.
Williams will be a vital cog for the Chiefs offense as they enter the postseason hoping to shake the monkey off their back from previous playoff meltdowns. The Chiefs offense should be back at full strength, or nearly so, with players coming back from injury which could mean significant opportunities for Williams to shine as defenses key in on Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins (if he’s back).