Darious Williams signs with Jaguars, opening a hole in the Rams’ secondary

The Jacksonville Jaguars are signing cornerback Darious Williams to a three-year, $30 million contract that will officially end his tenure with the Los Angeles Rams. He now goes back to Jalen Ramsey’s old home to try and help Doug Pederson turn around the NFL’s most hapless franchise over the last two seasons, to say the least.

If the Rams don’t sign any outside free agents of comparable contract figures, the Williams deal should net LA a compensatory pick in round four or five.

Williams, 29, was claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens during the 2018 season. He appeared in one game for the Rams that year, then made the final 53-man roster to open 2019. After the team traded away Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters, Sean McVay paired Williams as a starter opposite the newly-acquired Jalen Ramsey and the duo started to take off. As a starter in 2020, Williams had 14 passes defensed and four interceptions opposite of Ramsey.

But then in 2021, most of LA’s secondary outside of Ramsey seemed to struggle or get injured. Williams played in 14 of 17 games, making 71 tackles and not recording a single interception.