Bengals extend Shawn Williams

[GreenCornBengal]

(05-17-2016, 11:32 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I'm very anxious to see the details on this deal.  It's such an odd signing.  I'm not sure how these two sides came up with an agreeable market value.  

Either A.) he gave up his rights for 4 years, with no leverage in contract negotiations, and took a very small payday (in comparison to the one he would have seen had he played out the year as a full time starter) or B.) We overpaid for a player, who has 4 career starts, and just committed a significant investment in him, with a very small sample size.

It's hard to imagine much in between.  Why would Shawn Williams take a long term deal now, when he's slotted to be a full starter, and there's a good chance his value will sky rocket?  And assuming the answer is because we paid him a lot of money early, then why are we so eager to gamble on a player who has seen the field so little?

I'm sure some people will manage to hate me asking this.  It really has nothing to do with disliking Shawn Williams at all.  I'm anxious to see him play, and I thought he did a good job last year.  But this is kinda weird to me.  I feel like one of these sides is not getting the appropriate value, relative to their situation.  Either he signed to early and was scared to play for more, or we are in way to big of hurry to lock up a player of his experience.  Take your pick.

I think the argument is production vs potential.

If you value production, then Shawn Williams got the better end of this deal. Only 4 starts as you stated, hasn't proven anything. In that sense, he is getting overpaid for his minimal production.

If you value potential, then Cincinnati is getting the better end of the deal (in theory). They expect Shawn Williams to turn into a better safety than Reggie Nelson.. or so it seems. If that is the case, then paying him early is a win for Cinci.

We won't really even start to know until the latter end of next season and the seasons after that. Assuming the odds of a player playing up to their deal is probably less than a player not playing up to their contract, Cinci is losing this deal (for now).

I would like to think Cinci is playing it smart here, but I'm with you and think Shawn Williams scored a good deal for not showing really much of anything other than a few exciting interceptions at a few crucial moments in his career.

In any case, hope it works out for the best for us.