Mike Williams was trying to take a nap on Tuesday, but something kept waking him up. His phone kept buzzing, showing five missed calls from his agent. “I thought I was dreaming,” Williams said. In a way, he was.
Instead of staying with the New York Jets and figuring out how he fits into their struggling offense, Williams will now be with the Pittsburgh Steelers, hoping to help them make the playoffs and win their first postseason game in years.
There are worse places to be. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity,” Williams said. “I’m a playmaker. I make plays.”
But he didn’t make enough plays with the Jets. Williams, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract with New York in the spring, had only 12 catches for 166 yards in nine games and didn’t score a touchdown.
When the Jets traded for Davante Adams last month, Williams found himself slipping down the depth chart.
That might not be a problem in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers (6-2) have been looking for another deep threat to play alongside George Pickens.
Williams, 30, believes he still has that extra speed a year after recovering from a torn ACL. His rehab kept him from participating fully in organized team activities and training camp, which Williams thinks hurt his chemistry with Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers — and ultimately hurt his performance.
Still, Williams said his time with the Jets was “cool,” and he’s looking forward to a fresh start with a team that still has a lot to play for in the second half of the season.
Williams spent part of his first practice with Pittsburgh on Wednesday working with the starting unit, and there’s a good chance he’ll play on Sunday when the Steelers face Washington.
But Williams isn’t rushing things. He’s focused on “being where my feet are” ever since tearing the ACL in his left knee in September 2023 while playing for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Los Angeles let Williams go in free agency, and even though he had planned to visit the Steelers, his first stop was in New York. The Jets didn’t let him leave without agreeing to a deal, though that move didn’t work out.
Eight months later, Williams found his way to Pittsburgh, where he joins an offense that seems to be finding its rhythm under quarterback Russell Wilson. The nine-time Pro Bowler is 2-0 since taking over in Week 7, including a victory over Williams and the Jets in his first start.
“They, I mean we’re making noise around the league,” Williams said. “I’m excited to join these guys and be a positive (influence) on everything.”
Williams isn’t the only new addition. The Steelers also traded for edge rusher Preston Smith from Green Bay on Tuesday, though for different reasons. Smith admits he asked for a trade last month because he was worried about his role after the Packers switched from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3.
Smith played just 54% of the snaps in nine games with Green Bay, his lowest since his rookie year with Washington in 2015. The 32-year-old has 2 1/2 sacks this season in limited action. His addition gives Pittsburgh’s outside linebacker group more depth behind stars T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
Perhaps just as important to Smith, the Steelers are playing for something this season. He knew that when he told Green Bay he wanted to move on, he was leaving his future up to chance. He could have ended up anywhere.
He was grateful when he found out he was going to Pittsburgh, though he admitted that it wasn’t until he quickly looked online that he saw how well the Steelers were doing. He was pleasantly surprised.
“I saw their record and I was kind of like ‘wooo,’” Smith said.
However, that excitement was mixed with the realization that Pittsburgh was coming off its bye week, while the Packers were entering theirs. That meant Smith could potentially play for 18 straight weeks.
Smith called it a “blessing” and believes he still has enough left in him to make a difference. He remembered meeting Steelers coach Mike Tomlin before the 2015 draft, but Pittsburgh ended up selecting Bud Dupree in the first round while Smith was drafted by Washington in the second round.
Sitting in the Steelers’ facility on Wednesday after a busy 24 hours, Smith took a moment to reflect.
“I always admired Mike Tomlin from afar and just being here and to be able to work with him, being in that first team meeting, just seeing how things go around (here),” Smith said, “I love him as a coach already.”
