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Roster Rundown
Roy's Role, Future Always Hot Topic
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
(Editor's Note: Throughout the off-season, DallasCowboys.com staff writers will take a closer look at the roster, analyzing players' impact last season and how each fits into the team's 2011 plans. Today's featured player is wide receiver Roy Williams.)
Name: Roy Williams
Position: Wide Receiver
Height/Weight: 6-3, 215
Experience: Seven seasons
College: Texas
Key stat: In four full seasons with the Detroit Lions (2004-07), Williams averaged 61 catches, 912.5 yards and 7 touchdowns. In his first two full seasons with the Cowboys (2009-10), he averaged 37.5 catches, 563 yards and 6 touchdowns. (He had a combined 36 catches, 430 yards and 2 touchdowns for both teams in a split 2008 season.)
Contract Status: Signed through 2013.
2010 Impact: Despite first-round pick Dez Bryant's arrival, Williams retained a starting job alongside Miles Austin and got off to an impressive start, catching 21 passes for 306 yards and five touchdowns in the first five games. But his production dipped significantly in his final 10 appearances (16 catches for 224 yards and zero touchdowns, including no catches in two games) as Bryant became a bigger factor in the offense before his Dec. 5 season-ending leg injury. Williams' best game during that quiet stretch - five catches for 83 yards against the Saints in a Thanksgiving Day loss - was also marred by his lost fumble late in the fourth quarter that New Orleans converted into the deciding touchdown.
Where He Fits: Like several veterans under contract, Williams' future in Dallas is the subject of constant speculation. Bryant's emergence, when healthy, should continue to reduce Williams' role and production. Williams has said he's optimistic he'll return and wants to stay. If the Cowboys were to release him, it would create roughly $12.9 million in dead money that would eat into the salary cap - assuming there's a salary cap under the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Writers' Analysis:
Rob Phillips: It's been well-documented: Williams hasn't come close to meeting the expectations that came with the five-year, $45 million extension he signed immediately following his trade to Dallas. Some of it is due to Austin's emergence in 2009 and Bryant's emergence in 2010. There's only one football. Williams has wondered publicly why he's not a bigger part of the game plan, but when he's not getting it, he's a willing and solid blocker downfield. The Cowboys obviously expect more than that. But his contract would seem to make releasing him this year unfeasible, and the receiver position isn't exactly as deep as it was last summer before Patrick Crayton got traded.
Nick Eatman: There are some cases when teams should cut high-priced vets whose production don't meet the contract, but Roy Williams shouldn't be one of them - not this year at least. It just doesn't make sense to part ways with him. He's due too much money and he'll count way too much on the next salary cap. Plus, if you cut Williams, you have now created a need for your team at wide receiver because you have to go get someone, especially with Dez Bryant showing to be injury-prone right now. Plus, if you consider Roy Williams caught five touchdowns in five games - all from Tony Romo - then maybe having them back together again next year could be a good thing.
Roy's Role, Future Always Hot Topic
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
(Editor's Note: Throughout the off-season, DallasCowboys.com staff writers will take a closer look at the roster, analyzing players' impact last season and how each fits into the team's 2011 plans. Today's featured player is wide receiver Roy Williams.)
Name: Roy Williams
Position: Wide Receiver
Height/Weight: 6-3, 215
Experience: Seven seasons
College: Texas
Key stat: In four full seasons with the Detroit Lions (2004-07), Williams averaged 61 catches, 912.5 yards and 7 touchdowns. In his first two full seasons with the Cowboys (2009-10), he averaged 37.5 catches, 563 yards and 6 touchdowns. (He had a combined 36 catches, 430 yards and 2 touchdowns for both teams in a split 2008 season.)
Contract Status: Signed through 2013.
2010 Impact: Despite first-round pick Dez Bryant's arrival, Williams retained a starting job alongside Miles Austin and got off to an impressive start, catching 21 passes for 306 yards and five touchdowns in the first five games. But his production dipped significantly in his final 10 appearances (16 catches for 224 yards and zero touchdowns, including no catches in two games) as Bryant became a bigger factor in the offense before his Dec. 5 season-ending leg injury. Williams' best game during that quiet stretch - five catches for 83 yards against the Saints in a Thanksgiving Day loss - was also marred by his lost fumble late in the fourth quarter that New Orleans converted into the deciding touchdown.
Where He Fits: Like several veterans under contract, Williams' future in Dallas is the subject of constant speculation. Bryant's emergence, when healthy, should continue to reduce Williams' role and production. Williams has said he's optimistic he'll return and wants to stay. If the Cowboys were to release him, it would create roughly $12.9 million in dead money that would eat into the salary cap - assuming there's a salary cap under the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Writers' Analysis:
Rob Phillips: It's been well-documented: Williams hasn't come close to meeting the expectations that came with the five-year, $45 million extension he signed immediately following his trade to Dallas. Some of it is due to Austin's emergence in 2009 and Bryant's emergence in 2010. There's only one football. Williams has wondered publicly why he's not a bigger part of the game plan, but when he's not getting it, he's a willing and solid blocker downfield. The Cowboys obviously expect more than that. But his contract would seem to make releasing him this year unfeasible, and the receiver position isn't exactly as deep as it was last summer before Patrick Crayton got traded.
Nick Eatman: There are some cases when teams should cut high-priced vets whose production don't meet the contract, but Roy Williams shouldn't be one of them - not this year at least. It just doesn't make sense to part ways with him. He's due too much money and he'll count way too much on the next salary cap. Plus, if you cut Williams, you have now created a need for your team at wide receiver because you have to go get someone, especially with Dez Bryant showing to be injury-prone right now. Plus, if you consider Roy Williams caught five touchdowns in five games - all from Tony Romo - then maybe having them back together again next year could be a good thing.
