They are conflicting but I get the sense the Lions wanted to move on from Williams. I commend them for not overpaying for Williams and moving on to a better player. I wish they did the same with Anzalone.
Just sign some other team's wasted 6th round pick to be a backup. Top backups don't want to come to a team where the starter is firmly entrenched, didn't miss a single snap the entire season, and has only missed 3 games due to injury over 6 years.
They save about $3 million more if they cut him post June 1st. They don't need the cap space now so there is no point to cut him now. They could designate him as a June 1st cut and that would make him a free agent immediately. I think he makes it to training camp and is evaluated to see if he's healthy and given an opportunity to make the roster.
The egregious moves he has made, even ones there were egregious at the time have been relatively minor. I still don't know what the thought process was on Trinity Benson. The multiple extensions of Anazalone are annoying but it's not really dragging the team down.
Yeah I don't know how a player can gain 9 pounds in two weeks and become so out of shape he can't complete workout drills and still expect to be a top pick.