NFL free agency is underway and there have been some notable free agents. One of them was WR Mike Williams after the Los Angeles Chargers revealed they planned to release him. This made him arguably one of the best wide receivers available. However, he has since been claimed, and these two teams missed out on him.
Mike Williams Signs With New York Jets
The Jets continue to be busy this offseason as they now signed WR Mike Williams. This deal is reportedly going to last about one year and is expected to be worth around $15 million. Williams will arguably make a great complement wide receiver for Garrett Wilson.
Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers Miss Out
Unfortunately, with the Jets signing Williams, it meant some teams failed to even secure a meeting with Williams. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, two of the notable teams in this category are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers. Both teams are going through plenty of transitions of their own. Apparently, both teams believed Williams could help with their transition strategies.
Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Carousel
The Steelers have completely flipped their quarterback depth chart this offseason. How did they do this? Well, four notable moves happened around the NFL.
First, Mason Rudolph ended up signing with the Tennessee Titans. Then, Russell Wilson was acquired, with many assuming that he would be the new starting quarterback for the Steelers.
After that, the Steelers realized things were not going to work out with QB Kenny Pickett. As a result, they traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles. Finally, the Steelers traded for Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears.
This has meant having a completely new depth chart at the quarterback position. Ideally, Mike Williams would have eased this transition for Wilson and/or Fields.
Carolina Panthers Rebuilding
The Panthers simply have bigger problems. They finished with the worst record in the NFL and do not even have a first round pick. On top of this, rookie QB Bryce Young looked questionable going forward compared to his counterpart C.J. Stroud, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Carolina also certainly misses WR D.J. Moore, who they had to trade to acquire Young. Last season, Moore had 1,364 receiving yards and eight touchdown passes for the Chicago Bears. Now, the Panthers will have to look at other options to help address that gap.
Get More NFL Content
For more news and trends around the NFL, click here or follow me on Twitter @JohnGalletley.