The Jets have offered a contract to free agent cornerback K’Waun Williams, a league source told NJ Advance Media.
The source said Williams has contract offers from three other unidentified teams. It is not clear how the offers measure up against one another, or what exactly the Jets offered Williams.
(UPDATE: On Tuesday evening, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Williams is signing a one-year contract with the 49ers.)
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In addition to known free agent visits last week with the Jets and Lions, Williams reportedly visited the 49ers, Vikings, and Dolphins, or at least had arrangements to make those visits.
Williams, who turns 26 in July, was born in Paterson and played at Saint Joseph Regional High in Montvale. He went undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2014 and has spent his entire NFL career so far with the Browns. Williams is 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds.
His smaller physical build makes him a better fit in the slot, rather than at outside corner. He was primarily a slot corner for the Browns.
The Jets are expected to retain Buster Skrine, their top slot corner, for 2017. But Williams could provide some depth and/or competition. Skrine and Williams overlapped in Cleveland in 2014, before Skrine signed with the Jets after that season.
(Skrine’s dead money figure of $5 million is probably too high for the Jets to cut him, though that would create $3.5 million in salary cap space.)
Between 2014 and 2015, Williams played in 26 games, with 10 starts. His career stats: zero interceptions, 10 passes defended, three forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles, and two sacks. Williams didn’t play last season, following an ankle injury. (He is back to full health now.)
That injury — and the treatment of it — was a point of contention between Williams and the Browns in the preseason.
The Browns wound up suspending Williams for two weeks in August and fining him, because he refused to play in a preseason game at the Packers. Later in August, the Browns waived Williams.
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He signed with the Bears immediately after the Browns waived him, but Williams’ contract with Chicago was voided because he failed his physical. After that, Williams did not get picked up by any team last season.
Is his prolonged free agency period about to end? And if so, could he get a New Jersey homecoming with the Jets?
Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.
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