Detroit Lions signing Sylvester Williams to a one-year deal
By Ash Thompson
The Detroit Lions have plugged their hole at defensive tackle. The team is signing Sylvester Williams formerly of the Tennessee Titans.
Defensive tackle Sylvester Williams is being signed by the Detroit Lions. This was first reported by Cameron Wolfe on twitter, and shortly thereafter confirmed by the team. Williams spent only a single season with the Titans. He signed a three year deal with the team in 2017.
Williams, the former 28th overall pick in the 2013 draft, plied his trade for four seasons in Denver. He started 11 of 15 games for the Titans during the 2017 season. He finished the year with 26 tackles, and four tackles for loss. Wolfe has also reported that the signing is for a single season. The Lions have declined to include the terms of the deal in their press release.
Williams had visited Washington previously during the week. He was listed by PFF as one of the top 25 remaining free agents seven days ago. Williams is primarily a run defender, and received a grade of 78.2 for his 2017 run defense. Williams was the number 67 ranked interior defender by PFF for the year.
Williams is not the bursty three technique that Lions fans were hoping for, but he is the type of two gap defender that the Lions are sorrily missing from their defense. The Loss of Haloti Ngata crippled the team’s run defense in 2017. Williams has missed more than a single game in only one of his five seasons in the NFL.
This move does not likely affect the Lions draft plans greatly. Williams is signed for only a single season. He makes the team’s need at defensive tackle less urgent, but does not preclude the selection of a quality player in any round.
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At best Williams will serve as a starting defensive tackle beside A’Shawn Robinson, and rotate out with Akeem Spence and Jeremiah Ledbetter on passing downs. At worst he is a very high quality depth signing for the team.