4 worst Seahawks free agent signings under John Schneider

Seahawks’ worst free agent signing No. 3: Cornerback Cary Williams

Another signing that didn’t work out for Seattle but for a different reason than the one involving Witherspoon. After the 2014 season, Seattle was still in a position to be very good. The team had just come off back-to-back Super Bowls (should have been back-to-back victories, of course) and just needed to add even more talent to continue their streak of success. Instead, Schneider made one of the worst moves he has made as Seattle’s GM.

Seattle had Richard Sherman at one cornerback, still had excellent safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, and just needed to find a solid replacement for cornerback Byron Maxwell. Cary Williams had been an OK player earlier in his career but he was turning 31 years old and that is getting ancient for a mediocre corner. Still, it seemed like Schneider and Pete Carroll thought Williams at the length to be a good fit in Seattle’s defensive scheme.

What Williams was really good at, however, was getting beat deep. Williams started 10 games for the Seahawks in 2015. His time in Seattle started off well enough as he recovered a fumble for a touchdown in his first game. That would be the highlight of his Seahawks career, though.

Seattle had signed Williams to a three-year deal worth up to $18 million. But he was so bad through 10 games – he allowed a quarterback rating of 120.6 plus a whopping 14.8 yards per reception – that Seattle gave up on Williams after 10 games and released him. Williams was paid $7 million in guaranteed money from the team. Moves like the signing of Williams led to the regression of success for Seattle from the 2013 and 2014 seasons.