Ravens sign superstar safety Marcus Williams in an absolute steal
By Justin Fried
The Baltimore Ravens have made a massive splash in free agency reportedly signing superstar safety Marcus Williams. It’s their first move of the free-agency period, and it’s a big one at that.
As first reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Ravens have signed Williams to a five-year, $70 million contract. Notably, that’s well below what most expected the star safety to receive.
Even with the $37 million in guarantees, it’s impossible not to look at this as an absolute steal for Baltimore. The Ravens landed one of the best free agents on the entire market.
And they did so without having to pay him top dollar. Eric DeCosta strikes again.
The Marcus Williams signing is an absolute steal for the Ravens
Williams was projected by some to receive a contract somewhere north of $17 million per season. Many expected him to reset the safety market and become perhaps the highest-paid safety in football.
Instead, the Ravens got him for at an average annual value that wouldn’t even give him a top-five cap hit in 2022. That’s absurd value.
Williams is one of the best free safeties in the NFL. Despite not receiving the same national attention as players like Tyrann Mathieu, Williams has still played at a near-elite level.
He’s been ranked in the top-seven safeties in football by Pro Football Focus in four of his five seasons in the league. And at just 25-years-old, this is a no-brainer signing at this price.
The Ravens entered the offseason looking to upgrade their secondary, and with DeShon Elliott set to hit free agency, there was an obvious hole at the safety position.
Williams is everything the Ravens were looking for and more. Not only do they fill that hole, but they add a true prototypical free safety who can fill the void left by Earl Thomas’ departure a few years ago.
It isn’t a stretch to say that Marcus Williams is the best safety the Ravens have had since Ed Reed. He’s that good. Combine that with his age and the extremely reasonable price tag and this is a home-run signing for the Ravens.
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After a quiet first day, the Ravens made sure to make their presence felt on Tuesday.