The recently turned 35-year-old cornerback Tramon Williams returns to Green Bay after an excellent year as Arizona’s starter opposite Patrick Peterson, a position that gets pelted with pass targets year after year. It took the Cardinals a little while before giving Williams the full time job, but it paid off.
Despite throwing a ton of draft capital at the cornerback position over recent seasons, the Packers allowed more passing touchdowns than any defense in the league last year. An ailing pass-rush had much to do with that, but Green Bay expects an interior boost in that department after signing Mo Wilkerson to line up next to Mike Daniels on throwing downs.
Dom Capers aggressive and unorthodox style of defensive coordinating also caused problems of late without question. He has been replaced, but Green Bay’s personnel also has improved as well even with Damarius Randle being traded to Cleveland.
Williams isn’t much of a force against the run, but he fortifies this young secondary and his experience and leadership can’t be overlooked, especially when considering that Morgan Burnett is now in Pittsburgh. Last year’s second round pick, Josh Jones, looks poised to replace Burnett at strong safety and Green Bay’s first round pick from a year ago, Kevin King, showed much promise at cornerback as a rookie. Williams, a very positional sound cover man, should have a positive affect on those two young men and the Packers hope to get Quinten Rollins’ career back on track as well.
After failing to pull Kyle Fuller away from the Bears, the Packers clearly felt the need to bring in a veteran at the position. Times have changed since Williams was last in Green Bay and he isn’t the long-term answer at the position, but this was a fine pickup for late March.
The Packers very well could help their pass defense further by selecting yet another cornerback early in the draft or possibly Clay Matthews’ successor off the edge. But by signing Williams, that need has lessened without question and as it stands today, expect Green Bay’s pass defense to be modestly improved.
