Daniel Shirley – USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bengals announced the signing of their third round rookie, safety Shawn Williams. Williams is expected to earn $2.716 million over the next four years and will go $543,986 against the cap in 2013, according to Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Since the selection of Williams with the 84th overall pick, there have been questions about whether or not the Bengals should have used an earlier pick to select a player for a position they so desperately needed.
I have no issues with tight end Tyler Eifert in the first round, and to be able to get their hands on Giovani Bernard at the beginning of the second round just made complete sense. But when it came around to their second pick and they chose defensive end Margus Hunt, people started worrying.
The Bengals, of course, cleared everything up when they chose Williams, as he really was the best remaining safety when the team came to their second pick of round two, so to reach for him here would have been pointless.
Considered to be one of the top future safeties going into his senior year in 2012, his deficiencies covering tight ends and slot receivers on lateral routes was a big reason why he fell to the third round. But with 98 tackles, he is widely considered to be one of the hardest workers (even calling his teammates “Too Soft”) in the entire NCAA.
During the 2012 season, he allowed only 16 passes completed from 62 that were thrown his way and is considered to be one of, if not the top run safeties coming into the NFL.
The last remaining rookie to sign is first round tight end Tyler Eifert.
Simon Greene – Cincinnati Bengals Writer. Be sure to follow Simon on Twitter @simongreene88
