The Lions moved up 20 spots in the first round in order to select former Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams and General Manager Brad Holmes said this week that Williams “was the prime target” of any aggressive move that the team considered leading into the draft.
Holmes said on 97.1 The Ticket that their trade with the Vikings was contingent on Williams being available and he may have come off the board earlier if not for the torn ACL he suffered in January. That could impact Williams’ immediate availability, but Holmes said he’s taking the long view when it comes to how long Williams is going to be in Detroit.
Williams noted the contracts that have been signed by receivers this offseason are “swelling at an alarming amount” and said that having an option on Williams’ contract for a fifth year made the move all the more attractive.
“I would say it’s good to have that fifth-year option on a guy like that, when you look at the totality of it,” Holmes said, via Justin Rogers of the Detroit News. “With Jameson, specifically, he was a guy where there was total buy-in, total conviction. I was just in love with him. I said, ‘Look, this is a guy that we want to get and I think he can be a game-changer for us.’”
If Holmes’ assessment of Williams’ ability is on the mark, Williams may be in the market for a new contract before he hits his fifth season and Holmes’ chances of still being in place to make the decision about giving him one should look pretty good.