One of the busiest teams throughout this offseason has been the New York Jets, who have been adding pieces to their offense as they head into Year 2 of the Aaron Rodgers era. They brought in Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, and John Simpson along the offensive line, and they brought in Mike Williams to give Rodgers a new wide receiver.
Williams, of course, spent the first seven years of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers, working alongside Keenan Allen as the top wide receivers for Philip Rivers and then Justin Herbert. He has been a very good contested-catch winner and deep ball threat for most of his career, which should make him a good complement to Garrett Wilson on the opposite side.
However, Williams is coming off a torn ACL that cut his 2023 season short after just three games. According to Williams, though, he'll be on the field for the start of the season.
"I'm like four-and-a-half months out, five months out. So I should be ready -- I will be ready for Week 1 of the season," Williams said during an appearance on The Adam Schefter Podcast. "That's my goal and (it's) looking good. I've got a meeting with my doctor here next week; so, take some more steps, keep building, make my way up there."
Head coach Robert Saleh indicated that Williams is on a similar recovery path that running back Breece Hall was on a year ago, but also cautioned that he is still early in the recovery process. "Mike, he's got a long way to go," Saleh said last week, per SI.com. "He's on the same timeline that Breece had. They're very similar injuries, same time frame. He knows he's got a road to trek, but at the same time, if he does it the right way, we're very confident we'll have him ready for Week 1."
As for what he'd like to accomplish in New York, where he signed on a one-year deal, Williams has a pair of very specific goals in mind.
"My goals is to get healthy and, I mean, I'm going on Year 8; I want to win a Super Bowl," he said. "I want to win a Super Bowl, so whatever it takes to do that. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be the kind of last team standing, holding that trophy up at the end. And I want to be available for every game. Those are my goals for the season."
Williams has played every game of the season only once in his career, way back in 2018. He did stay on the fieeld for 15, 15, and 16 games in 2019 through 2021, but he missed four games in 2022 and 14 in 2023. If he can stay healthy throughout his age-30 season this upcoming year, and if he can maintain the kind of production he's had for most of his career, there should be a solid market for his services in 2025.
