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The Dallas Cowboys locked up a crucial piece of their offense on Saturday, signing running back Javonte Williams to a three-year, $24 million deal with $16 million guaranteed, according to sources who spoke with ESPN‘s Adam Schefter.
Williams gets a $6 million signing bonus as part of the agreement.
His 1,201 rushing yards last season marked the highest total for a Cowboys running back since Ezekiel Elliott put up 1,357 yards back in 2019. Williams also hauled in 35 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns — not huge numbers in the passing game, but solid contributions for a team that needed someone reliable on the ground.
With Williams now secured, the Cowboys can shift their focus to Pro Bowl wide receiver George Pickens when they head to Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine next week. Dallas is expected to use the franchise tag on Pickens before the March 3 deadline, which’ll cost them roughly $28 million. After that, they’re hoping to hammer out a long-term deal. Pickens posted career bests across the board last year with 93 catches, 1,429 yards, and nine touchdowns.
It’s been quite a turnaround for Williams.
Last season was his first in Dallas after he signed a one-year, $3 million prove-it deal following four years with the Denver Broncos (who’d drafted him in the second round back in 2021). He set career highs in rushing yards, carries, and touchdowns — despite missing the final game with a stinger that’d been nagging him for most of December.
Those 1,201 yards ranked ninth in the NFL; not bad considering he sat out Week 18. Williams, who’ll turn 26 in April, also racked up 252 carries and 11 rushing touchdowns. With Denver, he’d never topped 903 yards (in 2021), 217 carries (2023), or four touchdowns (which he hit twice, in 2021 and ’24).
The improvement is even more impressive when you consider Williams missed most of the 2022 season after tearing both his ACL and LCL in his right knee. Coming back from that kind of injury to put up the numbers he did last year shows just how valuable he’s become to Dallas’s offensive scheme.
