He’ll join Julian Blackmon on the safety tryout circuit in Carolina. Williams was released by the Ravens in a move that had been expected for months. This is the first known outside interest we’ve seen for him. Entering his age-29 season, the safety has a long track record of NFL success but posted a dreadful 37.3 PFF coverage grade in 601 defensive snaps last year before the Ravens moved him out of the lineup in Week 11.

Williams will be designated as a June 1 cut for cap purposes. The 28-year-old safety was signed to a five-year, $70 million contract back in 2022, but he and Arthur Maulet both are cap casualties that won’t be part of Baltimore’s secondary in 2025. Williams will likely see a decent market as a player that doesn’t turn 29 until September, albeit for nowhere close to the money he was making with the Ravens.

Williams signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Ravens during the 2022 offseason and saw himself get benched last season. He restructured his contract in January to pave the way to be designated as a post-June 1 cut, which will still result in a dead cap hit of $6.723 million for the Ravens in 2025 and 2026. Williams has started 106 of the 108 games he’s appeared in over his career, forcing 20 interceptions while also recovering four fumbles. He’ll turn 29 at the start of next season and could have a chance to rehab his career elsewhere.

The defensive turnaround of the Ravens in 2024 can be traced almost directly to benching Williams and installing Kyle Hamilton at free safety. Williams has been a healthy scratch for the last five weeks and hasn’t played meaningful snaps since Week 10. Both sides likely see a release as the best way for Williams to continue his career elsewhere. The major free-agent signing played just three seasons in Baltimore after the Saints let him walk, with injuries impacting him in both 2022 and 2023. He’ll be 29 and is likely to be regarded as a flier in free agency once he gets there.