Mario Williams was supposed to replace Olivier Vernon when Vernon departed for the New York Giants. Williams signed a 2-year contract this past offseason worth $17 million. Williams will have to find a new home next season as he expected to be released next season. The Miami Herald was on the news first.
His hefty contract will be the motivation for this move. Super Mario is owed $8.485 million next season, $3.5 of which is due on the 7th day of the 2017 new league year. There is simply no way the Dolphins will pay that freight as he is coming off of the worst year of his career.
Williams, 31, has only played in 5 games this season recording just 1.5 sack. Williams has been a complete disaster in Miami, to say the least. While he has battled injuries all season head coach Adam Gase made him a healthy scratch last week. According to head coach Adam Gase, it appears Williams has lost his spot to former 7th round pick Terrence Fede.
“We have nine guys we like. And we have five defensive ends. We like all those guys. It’s hard for me to justify not playing Fede when he gives us something on special teams and the way he’s playing on defense. It’s nothing against Mario. It’s that Fede gives us some snaps on special teams plus he’s a big man who can move, he can run, he can do things on punt return or punt. Once you get some special teams value out of a defensive lineman, that’s good for us. That helps us a lot.”
