Two offensive linemen in the National Football League signed one year contracts on Thursday. Offensive tackle Daryl Williams of Lake Dallas, Texas came to terms on a one year deal with the Buffalo Bills from the Carolina Panthers and offensive tackle Germain Ifedi of Houston, Texas agreed on a one year deal with the Chicago Bears from the Seattle Seahawks. The financial deals for either player have not yet been disclosed.
Williams has played the last five seasons with the Panthers. He has played in 56 games and has started in 41 of them. On December 18, 2019, Williams had his first NFL career fumble recovery in a 40-20 Carolina loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
After playing college football at the University of Oklahoma, Williams was the Panthers fourth round draft pick, 102nd overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. In 2016, Williams started 10 Panthers games as Michael Oher missed a major part of the season with a concussion. In 2017, Williams was a regular starter as he played in all 16 games. In 2018, Williams only played one game as he tore his medial collateral ligament and dislocated his right kneecap during training camp. In 2019, Williams started 12 of 16 games for Carolina.
Williams is the latest former Panthers player to join the Bills. He is joined by defensive end Mario Addison, defensive tackle Vernon Butler, linebacker A.J. Klein and cornerback Josh Norman. At 27 years of age, Williams is 6’6″, 335 pounds.
Ifedi is 25 years of age, and id 6’6″, 325 pounds. The product of Texas A&M was the Seahawks’ first round draft pick, 31st overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
A starter in 60 NFL games with the Seahawks since 2016, Ifedi had his first two career fumble recoveries for the Seahawks in 2019. The first came in a 32-28 Seahawks win over the Cleveland Browns on October 13 and the second came in a 27-24 Seahawks win over the San Francisco 49ers on November 11.
One area where Ifedi has had issues over the years has been with his discipline. In 2017, he led the NFL with 16 penalties.
