When the Dallas Cowboys re-signed Terrance Williams last offseason, there were mixed reactions among the Cowboys faithful. It appeared to be a “team friendly” contract and it made a lot of sense at the time. Although Williams was never the most productive guy during his Cowboys career, there are some valuable assets to his game. He has a good understanding of the offense, is well liked by his teammates, is an exceptional blocker and he did come through with some big time clutch performances albeit not with consistency. On the opposite end of the spectrum, he is clearly not without faults either. He was always and continues to be a body catcher who will often leave his feet to make routine grabs and in the process limit his big play capability. There are stretches of games where he completely disappears, most notably when he was afforded a golden opportunity to fill in as WR#1 following injuries to Dez Bryant. Lastly, he has a tendency to make bone headed plays such as not getting out of bounds in the final seconds of a week 1 loss to the Giants in 2016. What I found most disturbing about that play is that he made the same mistake only a few weeks later, although in that instance without the same consequences. It is troubling when a player makes mistakes but more so when they do not learn from them. At any rate the Cowboys saw fit to keep him around to continue the success that the offense achieved in 2016.
Only one year removed from that magical 2016 season and the Cowboys have decided to go in another direction entirely. Major changes have been initiated at the wide receiver position which included cutting 3 time Pro-Bowler and emotional leader Dez Bryant. Cutting Bryant actually saved the Cowboys $8 million dollars towards the salary cap but T-Will was spared because somehow cutting him would cost the Cowboys more against the cap then retaining him. The Cowboys do wish to create competition at the WR position and they have brought in a slew of new faces such as Allen Hurns, Tavon Austin, Deonte Thompson and rookies Michael Gallup and Cedric Wilson. Keeping Williams in the mix to battle it out into training camp makes logical sense but there are other factors at play.
First of all, Williams may not be available for training camp as a result of a broken foot suffered under mysterious circumstances earlier this spring. If that does not complicate matters enough, Williams’ recent arrest and the unusual circumstances surrounding it are once again creating a distraction that the Cowboys are ill prepared to handle this offseason. Last season, the Ezekiel Elliott suspension proved to be too much of a circus for the Cowboys to overcome. That was last season with experienced leaders like Jason Witten and Dez Bryant in the fold. This season the Cowboys cannot afford to challenge their new leadership to take on any additional off the field drama if they wish to achieve a higher level of success in 2018.
Though it may not make financial sense and though it may not be a question of talent, it would be prudent for the Cowboys to cut ties with Terrance Williams and do so without hesitation. That type of move will send a message to this young team that everyone is accountable on and off the field regardless of contract or draft status. Those are the type of moves that were made in the days of Jimmy Johnson, a time when the Cowboys were winning championships. Unfortunately recent history suggests Williams will be given multiple chances to make mistakes, just like Joseph Randle and Lucky Whitehead received, and an opportunity to change to culture of this team for the better will be squandered.
*Photo by Kieth Allision https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode