Eagles Sign Former Highly Touted Browns Starter: Report

Getty The Eagles are signing former Browns CB Greedy Williams.

The Philadelphia Eagles are beefing up their secondary.

According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, cornerback Greedy Williams has agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles. Williams is a former second-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns, having previously served as a starter for Cleveland.

“Former Browns CB Greedy Williams has agreed to terms on a free agent deal with the #Eagles, source tells me,” said Cabot. “2019 2nd round pick out of LSU.”

Williams’ deal with the Eagles is for one year, according to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports.

“I’m told CB Greedy Williams has agreed to a 1-year deal with the Eagles, per league source,” said Anderson. “MaryKayCabot first on the team.”

Greedy Williams Was Highly Touted CB at LSU

The 25-year-old Williams was a highly touted cornerback coming out of LSU back in 2019. Not only was he a First-team All-SEC selection back in 2017 and 2018, he was also a Consensus All-American during his redshirt sophomore season during the 2018 season.

Despite major success in college, Williams has yet to carry over those results from college into the pros. Williams had a solid rookie season in 2019, starting all 12 of his appearances while notching 47 tackles. However, he suffered a setback after suffering a nerve injury in his shoulder during training camp in 2020, eventually missing the entire season.

Williams bounced back after missing the 2020 season by starting eight of his 16 appearances during the 2021 season. However, another injury — this time a hamstring one — sidelined him for the first five weeks of the season. Although Williams played in 11 games, it was largely on special teams as he was limited to appearing in just 15% of the defensive snaps.

Luckily for Williams, he won’t face the same amount of pressure in Philadelphia as he did in Cleveland. Following the re-signing of cornerback Darius Slay and the three-year contract to cornerback James Bradberry, the Eagles are loaded at the position. That’s not even mentioning the return of Avonte Maddox, who has served as Philadelphia’s nickel cornerback in recent seasons.

As mentioned by EJ Smith of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Williams will likely compete for the top reserve spot at cornerback with 2021 third-round pick Zech McPhearson.

“With the Eagles, Williams will likely compete for the top reserve spot at outside cornerback,” said Smith. “The team had 2021 third-round pick Zech McPhearson as the first man off the bench last season.”

Williams will have the opportunity to revive his career for a defensive unit that ranked first in the league in pass defense.

Eagles Change Course, Decide to Bring Back Darius Slay

As mentioned earlier, the Eagles are bringing back Slay.

Less than 24 hours after it was reported that Philadelphia planned to cut Slay, the Eagles are signing the five-time Pro Bowl cornerback to a two-year, $42 million contract, including $23 million guaranteed.

Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:

“He’s back: The Eagles are keeping star CB Darius Slay after all, with the team reaching a 2-year extension through 2025, per me and MikeGarafolo,” said Rapoport on Thursday, March 16. “He announced his release but wasn’t actually released. The two sides got together and worked it out. The Pro Bowler sticks.”

Slay returns for his fourth season in Philadelphia after starting all 17 games in 2022.