The Arizona Cardinals have 54 days to decide whether to move on from right tackle Jonah Williams. It seems to make sense that they will.
Williams performed well during the 2024 season. However, he played only six games because of two injuries to his right knee. That is problematic, but it is also why the Cardinals structured the two-year contract he signed as an unrestricted free agent the way they did.
Williams suffered an injury to his right knee in Week 5 of the 2022 season with the Cincinnati Bengals, but continued playing. However, in a playoff game later that season, his left knee was dislocated leading to an offseason of rehab work.
He did start all 17 games in 2023, but this past season’s knee woes began in the first quarter of the season opener. Williams was activated from injured reserve on Nov. 20, but played only five more games before hitting IR again on Dec. 24.
That was nine days after he made a remarkable fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in the Week 15 victory over the New England Patriots.
So far, the Cardinals have paid Williams $16.78 million including a $14 million signing bonus, $2.5 million salary, $180,000 in bonuses ($30,000 per game) for playing six games and a $100,000 offseason workout bonus.
For 2025, Williams is currently on the books for a $10.78 million salary, $1.5 million roster bonus, potential max total of $510,000 per-game roster bonuses and a $100,000 offseason workout bonus. That correlates to a $16.06 million salary-cap charge that also includes a prorated $3.5 million portion of his signing bonus.
The contract included two void years so the $14 million signing bonus is spread over four years for cap purposes. Only $180,000 of the per-game bonuses counts against the cap in 2025 because he played only those six games this past season.
The key point is that the Cardinals would save a shade over $3 million against the cap (or at worst it would be a wash) if Williams is released prior to the fifth day of the new league year, which begins on March 12.
That’s because he has to be on the roster on the fifth day of the league year (March 16) to be paid the roster bonus. In addition, $2.5 million of his salary that was guaranteed for injury only at signing becomes fully guaranteed if he’s on the roster on March 16.
If released prior to the 16th, the dead-money cap charge would be $10.5 million to account for the remaining signing bonus plus $2.5 million of the 2025 salary that was fully guaranteed at signing for a total of $13 million.
However, the Cardinals could be on the hook for the additional $2.5 million cash and cap if he’s not healthy at the time of the release. He was injured on Dec. 22, so it’s possible he could be healthy by March 15 although we don’t know the severity of the injury.
Even if he’s not, the dead-money cap charge would be about $500,000 less than $16 million, so the overriding question is whether the Cardinals believe he can be counted on to be available moving forward on a regular basis.
If it’s a close call, they could roll the dice and bring him back while having a backup plan whether that’s re-signing Kelvin Beachum or further grooming 2024 rookie Christian Jones, who showed promise in his final-game start against the San Francisco 49ers.
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