After Opting Out, Damien Williams’ Future With The Kansas City Chiefs Is Uncertain

Damien Williams’ last game for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020 was a memorable one. 

The running back, who ran for 104 yards on 17 carries and accounted for two touchdowns in Super Bowl LIV, has opted out of playing for Kansas City in the 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns.

“As an organization we certainly understand and respect Damien’s choice, knowing it was made in the best interest of his family,” said Chiefs general manager Brett Veach in a statement. “He means a lot to our football team as a player and a person, and we’re going to miss having him around this season.”

Williams’ decision has interesting applications both for his contract and the team.

He was set to be in the last year of his contract, but now that will go through 2021, according to the newly negotiated NFL and NFLPA rules given the COVID-related uncertainties for the 2020 season.

Some of his playing time this year was going to be taken away be Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs’ top draft pick. 

But when Williams returns in 2021, it’s very possible that Edwards-Helaire has totally usurped him, and Williams will return as a backup. 

The Chiefs could even part ways with a back who will be 29 in 2021, but that would cost the Chiefs about $2 million as a cap hit.

In the interim the Chiefs should be in good shape. Though Williams’ contributions — particularly in the postseason when he had 290 total yards and six touchdowns — will not be easily replaced, the Chiefs are deep at running back.

In addition to Edwards-Helaire, they have Darrel Williams and last year’s preseason sensation, Darwin Thompson. Plus they signed former Oakland Raiders back DeAndre Washington, who played with Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, to a one-year, $1.047 million deal.

Just last week it looked like the Chiefs would return 20 of 22 starters from the Super Bowl-winning team.

Now that’s down to 18 of 22. Williams became the second Chiefs player to opt out, following right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s decision.

Assuming the season ends in a Super Bowl, the Chiefs still have a good chance to return there.

But if so, they will have to do it without Williams’ contributions.

In Super Bowl LIV, he was the target on every play — a seven-yard run followed by two incompletions — of the game’s opening drive.  

He not only opened the game, but also practically closed it. 

His five-yard touchdown reception with 2:44 left gave the Chiefs a 24-20 lead it would not surrender. And then Williams put the game out of a reach at 31-20 with a 38-yard rush with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter.

That meant he scored the last two touchdowns of a Super Bowl played at Hard Rock Stadium, the home turf of the Miami Dolphins, the team that signed Williams when he entered the league in 2014.

“It’s crazy. It’s doesn’t feel real yet,” he said after the game. “When you get into the league, you think about the Super Bowl. You think about what you would do in it, and for it to be where I started my career at, undrafted, it means a lot.”