Bengals: Five soon-to-be free agents likely to walk this offseason

Bengals free agents likely to walk: S Shawn Williams

When the Bengals swiped safety Vonn Bell off the market a year ago, it was widely viewed as a luxury pick up. Cincinnati already had up-and-coming star Jessie Bates and the always reliable Shawn Williams at the position, leaving plenty of questions as to how playing time would be divided.

The coaching staff assured the fan base all offseason that it would be a three-man rotation and Williams would still play a significant role moving forward. However, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

So far, the former starting safety has logged just 9% of the team’s defensive snaps. Bell is clearly the go-to guy moving forward, relegating Williams to a special teams role.

Williams has proven over the course of his career that he is fully capable of starting. Add in his leadership ability and willingness to contribute in the third phase of the game, and you can rest assured other organizations will come calling with a bigger payday than he would get with the Bengals.

It’s an unfortunate ending to what was a solid career in the Queen City. However, with Williams likely to earn a larger role with another team and the Bengals content with the talent at safety, it seems like a win-win for both sides to part ways.