Is it Time for Philadelphia Eagles to Say Goodbye to Cary Williams?

By Jesse Shuter | Oct 7, 2014

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams continues to be noticed on and off the field. The problem, is that he keeps popping up in the news for all of the wrong reasons. Williams was signed by the Eagles before the 2013 season away from the Baltimore Ravens to help rebuild the Eagles abysmal secondary. It turned out, however, that Williams might have ended up being our weakest link on the field.

This past sunday, Cary Williams and the Eagles defense almost let the St. Louis Rams make an enormous comeback after having a 34-7 lead. The last of the three jeopardizing touchdowns came when Rams quarterback Austin Davis threw an eight yard touchdown to wide receiver Brian Quick. Again, there was Williams leaving way too much separation on a play that could have been an interception had his coverage been better.

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These types of plays have happened over and over again against Cary Williams. If that were not bad enough he also has committed some very bad penalties. One penalty occurred against the San Francisco 49ers in week 4, which kept a last minute drive alive. This was a very key drive because it sealed the 49ers victory.

Bad play on the field is one thing, but on top of his bad gameplay, he has also been making headlines off the field. Recently Cary Williams complained that head coach Chip Kelly’s fast paced practices are too much for the players, leaving them tired come game time.

“It’s hard to go out there and fight for 60 minutes when you’re fighting throughout the week to make it through one practice” -Cary Williams (via ESPN.com)

This past offseason a wide receiver DeSean Jackson was cut by the Eagles and then signed with the division rival Washington Redskins. This was after the best season of Jackson’s career which left everyone wondering why the Eagles would want to cut such an elite playmaker. Coach Kelly claims that it was because Jackson was not willing to by into the system he is trying to implement into his team and therefore was not a good fit for the Eagles.

Dec 1, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams (26) argues a call with field judge Gary Cavaletto (60) in the third quarter of the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field. The Philadelphia Eagles won the game 24-21. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

With Cary Williams openly speaking negatively about how Chip Kelly runs his team, one might consider him to be “not buying into the system”. This leaves us with the following question, if a star like DeSean Jackson gets cut for not believing in Chip Kelly and his ways, why does a mediocre cornerback like Cary Williams get to stay on the team after committing the same crime.

With the way Williams has been playing I think that it is time to move on and part ways. The Eagles recently signed cornerback Nolan Carroll and drafted cornerback/safety Jaylen Watkins. Get rid of the bad seed in Williams, and give those guys a shot. If nothing else it would show the other players that Chip Kelly is really serious about players needing to buy into his system.

Next offseason there are a few free agent cornerbacks that could significantly improve the Eagles defense. Such as, the Green Bay Packers’ Tramon Williams, or the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ike Taylor, or even the San Diego Chargers’ Brandon Flowers, among others. Cary Williams is not nearly good enough for the Eagles to keep holding on.

Next week the Eagles take on the New York Giants in a sunday night NFC East showdown. With wide receivers like Victor Cruz, Reuben Randle and rookie Odell Beckham Jr., the Eagles better step up their game. More specifically Cary Williams.

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