Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mike Williams Wisely Talking Contract Extension

Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Mike Williams was a steal in the fourth round of the draft for the Buccaneers back in 2010, as he has yielded an excellent 193 receiving yards for the Bucs in his three-year career thus far and averages a steady four receptions per game for 57 yards per contest.

The Tampa Tribune’s excellent beat writer Roy Cummings tweeted that the Buccaneers are wisely working on an extension to reward their star, young wide receiver. Mike Williams isn’t the top option in the passing game anymore after the Bucs made a huge splash by signing Vincent Jackson last season, but Williams is still one of the better receivers in the game and hauled in 63 passes for a career-high 996 yards last season.

Williams also made an impact in the red zone with nine touchdown catches, which is a lot closer to his stellar rookie total of 11 than his subpar 2011 haul of three.

With Jackson there to help ease the pressure off of Williams as the No. 2 wideout, Williams is able to go deep again in an effective manner (15.8 yards per catch in 2012) and it also helps his rate statistics better.

The Bucs desperately needed a No. 1 wide receiver last offseason, and they got their man in Jackson. That led to a huge trickle-down effect that benefited Williams, and he will soon be getting a big pay day of his own.

We’ll see how much the Bucs give Williams, and I’m guessing he’ll get somewhere between $6-8 million. A lot of that depends on how many years he gets, and I’m guessing the Bucs will give him a four-year deal.

He’s going to be a very good No. 2 wide receiver for the Bucs for a while, as he’s just 25 and brings so much to the table as an end zone threat, a deep threat, and a guy who can consistently haul in 60+ catches each year.

Now that’s somebody who deserves to be locked up, and I still can’t believe the Bucs found him in the fourth-round.

Sometimes, character concerns are simply blown out of proportion; risks like this are well worth it. Just ask the New England Patriots, they had arguably the steal of the draft when they selected solid starting corner Alfonzo Dennard in the  seventh round.

I just want to finish off with a fact that might be interesting. Did you know that the other Mike Williams — most recently played for the Seattle Seahawks — was born in Tampa? Interesting/lame trivia question that you could bother a buddy of yours with.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.