Darious Williams officially signs his one-year Qualifying Tender offer

The LA Rams wanted to be sure that they were able to re-sign restricted free-agent defensive back Darious Williams. Of course, the team had to sort through several options to do so.  Since Darious Williams was a restricted free agent (RFA), the Rams had options as to whether or not they would give Williams a Qualifying Tender Offer.

The reason for doing so is simple. In order to activate the Right of First Refusal (or the option to match any other offers), the Rams needed to extend one of three offers to Darious Williams. Like an insurance policy or an automobile, the more expensive the option, the more bells, and whistles came with the offer.

The Rams offered Darious Williams a First-Round Qualifying Offer. That’s the top-shelf version and set the Rams back $4.766 million. While the Rams had the opportunity to offer less, the team wanted to send the message to Darious Williams that he is vital to the defense this year.

It looks like that message came in loud and clear.

DWill is the perfect counterpart to Jalen Ramsey

The LA Rams defense relies heavily upon the way defensive backs Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams complement one another. Ramsey is taller and possesses a superior skillset.  That translates into teams not targeting any receiver who draws Ramsey in coverage.

But Williams is a far better defensive back than many teams realize. Williams is very good at baiting a quarterback into throwing his way, and then closing in on the football while it is in the air to either knock it out of the receiver’s hands or simply come down for it for the interception.

And it’s that ability to play better and larger than expected that truly sinks into the opposing offense and frustrates their game plan.  Ramsey redirects the quarterback’s attention to the other receivers on the field. But as soon as that happens, Williams takes over and plays cat-and-mouse with the opposing quarterback.

The results speak for themselves. In fact, the pair of Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams accounted for two of the top four quarterback ratings in the NFL in 2020. They are a matching set.

And now it’s official. Darious Williams is back and will team up with All-Pro DB Jalen Ramsey. That gives the LA Rams front office one more year to find and sign up some cornerbacks who can take over in 2022.