KC Chiefs: The pros and cons of re-signing Damien Williams

The cons of re-signing Damien Williams

Williams should never have to buy himself another drink in Kansas City ever again. That much is true. He’s a local hero that came up big when it counted and proved himself worth every penny that general manager Brett Veach gave him for those two seasons.

That said, Williams did spend the next year away from the game due to COVID in 2020 and returned in 2021 to the Chicago Bears in a reunion with Matt Nagy for an uninspired run. This year, the Falcons shrugged and moved on without any problems. Mahomes and company have won 40 games since Williams left—just think of how many weeks that represents of football after Williams. In short, it’s been a long, long time.

At this point, Williams is long in the tooth in terms of age and has watched two of the league’s lesser-talented teams give him chances that never came close to replicating the sort of production Williams put up in crunch time. It makes more sense to say that it was Reid and Mahomes who helped elevate Williams’ game than the other way around.

Think about this: The Chiefs likely could have re-signed him in the last couple of offseasons, but they turned their attention to younger players like Jerick McKinnon instead. At this point, McKinnon provides what Williams once did and even on Sunday, McKinnon was a beast for the Chiefs on the ground and in the air.

Of course, we haven’t even mentioned Isiah Pacheco just yet, a now-starting rookie presence who already isn’t getting enough reps as it is. The Chiefs have a nice one-two punch if they’d only lean on them more when they should. Around them, they have unused vets like Jones and Gordon with Edwards-Helaire slated to return in Week 15 or later.

Conclusion

For a team that spent the offseason shedding commitments and getting younger, and with a backfield already overflowing with options, it makes little sense to bring back a once-productive veteran who hasn’t played for the team in three full years. However, given his history, it also makes sense why some fans would see the potential value play and want to swap him out with, say, Gordon or Jones. But you gotta believe Veach has had this chance already in the last year or two and decided against it. Making the move now just feels unnecessary.