Eagles Add Pair of Backups — Sign CB Greedy Williams and QB Marcus Mariota to 1 Year Deals
Dec 4, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota (1) throws against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
In what has been a topsy-turvy first few days of NFL free agency, the Eagles made 2 more moves last night: Signing former Cleveland Browns CB Greedy Williams, 25, and former Falcons QB Marcus Mariota, 29, each to 1-year deals.
Let’s start with Greedy Williams (he has a cool name so why not?). Williams was a 2nd round pick out of LSU in 2019 and has spent the first 4 seasons of his career in Cleveland. Williams started 20 games in his first 3 seasons with Cleveland (he missed all of 2020 with a nerve injury in his shoulder) and combined for 2 interceptions, 12 passes deflected, and 88 total tackles.
In 2022, his play noticeably declined. He only started once and allowed opposing QBs to throw for a perfect 158.3 passer rating against him. It should also be noted that during a joint practice last season, A.J. Brown made a difficult catch over Williams, and proceeded to stare him down while he was on the ground.
Most likely, Williams will be a backup on this year’s Eagles team. With Bradberry and Slay both back, it is almost impossible to see him getting much playing time unless there is an injury. However, this could still be a valuable pickup for a team that is very young and inexperienced at backup corner. Zech McPhearson, Josh Jobe, and Josiah Scott are all on the roster, but they have not seen much playing time in their short careers. Williams will add some experience behind the fearsome duo of James Bradberry and Darius Slay.
Onto the news, we have all been waiting for (for 8 years). Late last night the Eagles signed former Heisman Trophy Winner, Marcus Mariota, to a 1 year, $5 million deal that could be worth up to $8 million. Mariota will be back up to Jalen Hurts. This news comes just hours after it was announced that former Eagles backup QB, Gardner Minshew, signed a deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
After a ton of rumors in 2015 that Chip Kelly would trade up in the draft to select his former Oregon QB, Mariota now finds himself in midnight green 8 years later. Last season, Mariota started 13 games for the Atlanta Falcons. He went 5-8 and threw for 2,219 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He also rushed for 438 yards and 4 touchdowns.
As a mobile quarterback, Mariota should be able to run the Birds’ RPO-style offense better than Minshew if Jalen Hurts were to get injured (let’s hope we don’t have to find out!).
Mariota posted “Go Birds” with an eagle emoji on his Instagram story after news of him signing with Philly broke.
Ok, Howie, you’ve signed a backup, now, extend the starter!
This blog post was a great read, thanks for sharing! It’s interesting to see the Eagles pick up Greedy Williams as a backup, especially given his recent decline in performance. I’m curious, do you think the Eagles plan to use Williams primarily for depth, or do they have a specific role in mind for him? Also, it’s exciting to see Mariota joining the team and his potential as a mobile quarterback. Do you think there’s a possibility he could see some playing time even with Jalen Hurts as the starter?
David Brock
https://phillylocalsupport.com
I think Williams and simply for depth and mariota probably will only getting playing time if hurts gets injured. Although it is possible they use Mariota in a trick play but I think that would be it