The first time, Aaron Rodgers knew it was his own fault. The second time, he knew it wasn’t.
In back-to-back weeks, Rodgers has thrown what amounted to a game-ending interception late in the fourth quarter on passes intended for wide receiver Mike Williams. These were the moments that the Jets signed Williams for, the chance to use his unique skillset — he’s among the league’s best at securing 50/50 balls — to come up with a big play in a big moment.
But Rodgers and Williams just haven’t been able to find that connection yet. Rodgers is clearly frustrated by it, especially since it’s been at its worst in those late-game moments. The first interception came in London, when Rodgers threw it up for Williams on third down with 49 seconds left in a six-point game. Vikings corner Stephon Gilmore made an impressive play on the ball, but Rodgers admitted that misthrow was on him after the game. “I just kind of underthrew it a little bit,” Rodgers said.
Then, in the fourth quarter against the Bills, Rodgers launched it up again for Williams. This time, Williams slipped and the ball was picked off by Buffalo corner Taron Johnson. After the game — and a day later on “The Pat McAfee Show” — Rodgers went into detail about what went wrong. Specifically: Williams ran the wrong route.
WELCOME BACK, TARON‼️
📺: @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/9s9ZTphPBQ
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 15, 2024
“I have a lot of love and respect for Mike,” Rodgers said on his “The Pat McAfee Show” appearance. “He’s done some nice things for us, but in that play, he wasn’t in the right spot. You can make more of that if you want to, but we should all be held to a standard.”
It might’ve been the last route Williams will run with Rodgers throwing him the ball. In the wake of the Jets’ trade for All-Pro wideout Davante Adams on Tuesday, there’s not much room left for Williams, just seven months after the Jets signed him to be the No. 2 wide receiver the team had been missing. The New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers have already called the Jets about a trade for Williams, according to league sources. The 30-year-old didn’t practice on Wednesday for “personal reasons,” according to the team, though interim coach Jeff Ulbrich didn’t disclose that in his press conference before practice. According to an NFL Media report, Williams was back at the team facility on Thursday.
When Ulbrich was asked on Wednesday about the need to have a conversation with Williams after the Adams trade, he said he spoke with passing game coordinator (and play caller) Todd Downing about Williams’ role and noted that Downing is “very good at marking the plays for certain guys and making sure that everybody has a part of this offense, so Todd is on it and every guy will be integrated, every guy will get his touches and (opportunities) and every guy will be featured at times.”
Through six games, Williams only has 10 catches on 17 targets for 145 yards and no touchdowns, though six of his 10 catches have gone for 18 or more yards. His best moment as a Jet came on an 18-yard sideline grab in the fourth quarter against the Titans in Week 2, which set up the game-winning touchdown run on the next play. But otherwise, Williams hasn’t made much of an impact. League-wide, he ranks 73rd (of 80) in yards per route run (0.94) among wide receivers to run at least 100 routes. Pro Football Focus has him graded 79th of 89 receivers with at least 15 targets.
The Jets had high hopes when they signed Williams to a one-year deal worth up to $16 million (if he hit certain incentives) in free agency. The moment itself went viral when a Jets fan mailed a Taylor Ham, egg and cheese sandwich to the Jets facility to greet him upon the start of his free agent visit in Florham Park. He signed that day. But the reality was that expectations always should’ve been tempered for Williams, especially since he tore his ACL less than a year ago and didn’t participate at all during training camp.
The Jets downplayed his training camp absence and how it would impact his chemistry with Rodgers, but clearly it was an issue. It is not a coincidence that the Jets felt the need to aggressively upgrade the wide receiver corps this week — if Rodgers and Williams had found a better connection, the Jets might not have needed Adams. Rodgers calling Williams out (twice) after the Bills game likely didn’t help matters.
Once the Jets did acquire Adams — one of Rodgers’ closest friends who, according to Rodgers, is already 95 percent caught up on his famously intricate hand signals — the writing was on the wall for Williams. Especially since wide receiver Allen Lazard, a massive disappointment himself as a free agent singing last year, has had a nice bounceback year: He already has more receptions (36), yards (354) and touchdowns (five) than he did in 2023. Garrett Wilson’s presence lands Williams fourth in the pecking order.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Williams might be on his way out, though it is worth pointing out that this is another minus on general manager Joe Douglas’ free agent ledger. His track record on wide receiver signings — Lazard, Williams, Mecole Hardman, Corey Davis, Keelan Cole — isn’t exactly stellar.
If the Jets trade Williams, it won’t amount to much savings in terms of cap space (less than $1 million) and because of the structure of his contract, with void years tacked on to reduce the cap hit in 2024, they’ll still have him on the books for $1.469 million a year through 2028.
As for the potential landing spots: The Steelers, who the Jets will face on Sunday night, were in on both Brandon Aiyuk and Adams within the last couple of months and don’t have much outside of George Pickens at the position. The Chargers cut Williams this offseason but are off to a nice start — a 3-2 record — and never adequately replaced him. The Saints were in on Adams too and are without two starters (Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed) due to injuries.
It is unlikely the Jets will get much in exchange for a 30-year-old receiver coming off ACL surgery who doesn’t look completely back from that injury. So maybe they keep him around for depth. More likely: Williams won’t hail a late-game target from Rodgers ever again.
(Top photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
