According to NFLPA rules, members of the 2024 draft class will become eligible to sign early contract extensions next offseason. The Green Bay Packers have some interesting extension candidates in Javon Bullard and Edgerrin Cooper. However, Evan Williams may have the strongest case of the entire group.
In 2024, Williams earned a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team after a good first season. The rookie safety appeared in 13 games, making six starts while quickly becoming an important piece of Jeff Hafley’s defense.
Williams finished the year with 47 total tackles, including 30 solo stops, while also adding an interception, three pass breakups, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble. His ability to contribute against the run and in coverage helped him stand out throughout the season.
He followed up his impressive rookie campaign by taking another major step forward in 2025, playing at an All-Pro-caliber level for much of the season. Williams appeared in 16 games and finished the year with 88 total tackles while also recording three interceptions, continuing to establish himself as one of the most important pieces of Green Bay’s secondary.
“He’s always been a pretty aware player,” LaFleur said of Williams last year. “He’s got great instincts, but now just his knowledge of what we’re trying to get accomplished, and then his ability to disguise and hold things, and then on the snap, trigger. … The physicality that he’s brought to our defense has been pretty impressive.”
It would be interesting to see how Green Bay approaches a potential early extension for Williams, because the timing of the situation could become complicated quickly. Xavier McKinney will enter the final year of his contract next offseason, and it’s difficult to imagine him playing in 2027 without a new deal in place if he continues to perform at a high level.
Now, let’s say the Packers end up paying McKinney and Williams long-term. What would that eventually mean for Bullard, who took a major step forward in the nickel role last season and has already shown he can impact the game in multiple ways?
It could eventually turn into a situation somewhat similar to what Green Bay faced in 2016, when the Packers had Ha Ha Clinton-Dix emerging as a young safety alongside veterans Morgan Burnett and Micah Hyde.
That comparison feels even more relevant after former Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said this offseason that one of his biggest regrets during his time with the organization was allowing Hyde to leave in free agency.
Still, if Williams keeps playing at an All-Pro level, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify waiting too long on a new contract. The longer Green Bay waits, the more expensive his market value could become, especially at a position where impact players are continuing to get paid across the league.
“He’s a special player, man,” said McKinney of Williams last December. “He’s done a hell of a job for this defense, for this team, and you just continue to see his growth, within every game, within every practice, and you know that’s good for all of us.”
It feels like everyone inside 1265 Lombardi Avenue understands they have a special player in Evan Williams. There’s little reason to believe he will regress anytime soon, especially given how his game continued to develop throughout his first two NFL seasons. If anything, it seems far more likely that next offseason will bring conversations about a potential new deal rather than questions about whether Green Bay should extend him at all.
