4 realistic pivot options for Detroit Lions if Jamaal Williams leaves in free agency

On the possibility Jamaal Williams leaves, however unlikely or remote it seems, these 4 free agent running backs are realistic pivot options for the Detroit Lions.

Coming off the best season of his career, and what some will say will stand up as his clear career year, Jamaal Williams is hitting free agency. He has said the expected about wanting to be back, and he has clearly become a team leader/face of the new culture who the Lions would love to keep around.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes spoke at the NFL Combine on Wednesday, and Williams was an automatic topic. Holmes, via Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News, said there have been talks and there’s mutual interest between the two sides.

"We’re having discussions now currently,” Holmes said. “We had a discussion with all of our upcoming UFAs that were on expiring deals, but there is a mutual interest to hopefully get him back.”"

Williams can be re-signed by the Lions at any point. But, as much as Lions fans don’t care to hear about it, he would be doing himself a disservice to not see what else is out there on the open market. If he comes back to the Lions, so be it and that’s fine. But the business reality opens the door to the possibility he leaves. And the Lions should not overpay to keep him based on sentiment, intangible value, etc.

On the chance (slim as it may be) Williams finds a deal on the market the Lions won’t match, or perhaps just closely match if he wants to stay that badly, they have to be prepared to pivot.

In the scenario where Williams is gone, these four free agent running backs are realistic pivot options for the Lions.

4 free agent pivot options for the Detroit Lions if Jamaal Williams leaves

4. Alexander Mattison

Mattison has spent his career to this point stuck behind Dalvin Cook in Minnesota. That said, Cook’s injury docket has given him occassional opportunities to be a workhorse and he has often produced well.

Games started for running backs can be misleading, and it’s not really an indicator of anything per se. So we’ll go with sheer workload.

In five career games with 20 or more carries, Mattison has run for 112, 95, 112, 113 and 90 yards respectively (three of those games against the Lions, by the way, including two in 2021). Narrow down to games where he’s simply had double-digit carries, and he’s regularly been an effective player.

Mattison could capably fill the role Williams would leave behind, and perhaps offer more in the passing game than Williams has (7.5 yards per catch in his career, 32 catches in 2021). He’s probably most ideally paired with a speedier, more versatile back (D’Andre Swift?).

But the Lions would get younger, and probably a fair chunk cheaper, with the other piece of their backfield rotation if they pivot to Mattison upon Williams’ exit.

3. Damien Harris

Harris had an injury-hampered 2022 campaign with the New England Patriots, missing a total of six games and getting double-digit carries in just four of the 11 he did play in. He is all but certain to be elsewhere next season after being fully usurped by Rhamondre Stevenson.

Touchdowns can be fluky, and unsustainable year-to-year (see Williams after last season). But Harris found paydirt 15 times in 2021, while also rushing for 929 yards in 15 games. In 2020, he averaged 5.0 yards per carry on 137 carries.

Harris has simply not been used much as a pass catcher this far in his career, with 40 career receptions. But given how the Patriots generally like to deploy their running backs, in a committee with pretty specific and defined roles, it’s hard to know if there’s untapped potential there. Even back to his college days at Alabama, in a loaded backfield, it’s hard to know what all he’s capable of as a more all-around back.

All in all, if Williams leaves, Harris is an absolutely realistic pivot option for the Lions. And it may only need to be a one-year flier to see what he can do with a change of scenery.

2. D’Onta Foreman

After the Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers before last season’s deadline, Foreman stepped up with 877 rushing yards (4.6 yards per carry) over the final 11 games. He had a similar run with the Tennessee Titans in 2021 when Derrick Henry missed time, with 482 yards over the final six games of that season–with three 100-yard games filling in for Henry.

Foreman is a bigger back (6-foot-1, 236 pounds) in more of an old school-style, with very limited production as a pass catcher in his career but sneaky speed. College football fans may remember his 2,000-yard season at Texas in 2016, when he won the Doak Walker Award as the top running back in the country.

But Foreman has never had a big role over a full season in the NFL, only the teaser samples we’ve seen over parts of the last two seasons on two different teams when circumstances thrust him into a lead role. He’s still only 26 (27 in April though), with just 443 career carries.

The Lions have an ideal circumstance for Foreman if there’s the opportunity, or more specifically the need on the team’s end. They’d pair him with a back like D’Andre Swift, as he’d become the replacement to Williams in the backfield mix. The Lions also got a close look at him in Week 16 last season, for what its worth, when the Panthers dominated their defense on the ground.

Foreman running behind the Lions’ top-notch offensive line is an intriguing possibility. If Williams leaves for another team of course.

1. Josh Jacobs

The Raiders’ new regime did not pick up Jacobs’ fifth-year option last offseason, then he played in the Hall of Fame Game to seemingly seal his lack of a future in Las Vegas. Then all he did was lead the NFL in rushing (1,653 yards), with 12 touchdowns and 53 catches for 400 yards. In some respect, with no plan to keep him the Raiders put him on the DeMarco Murray circa-2014 plan and ran the crap out of him (340 carries).

The Raiders could tag Jacobs and end his status on the open market. But Josh McDaniels’ New England roots may tell him he doesn’t need to pay big for a running back, and there’s a strong case the Raiders should allocate more signficant resources to other areas of the roster.

Jacobs will have multiple suitors if he is in play for other teams, with three 1,000-yard seasons on his resume at age-25. And he has topped 50 receptions in each of the last two seasons.

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently matched some free agent running backs with teams, and he paired up Jacobs with the Lions (and Williams with the Cincinnati Bengals, if you’re curious).

"Proposed team: Lions The Raiders may tag their breakout starter, but Josh McDaniels has leaned on a committee approach before. The Lions, meanwhile, could lose 17-touchdown man Jamaal Williams to free agency, and former second-rounder D’Andre Swift has yet to stay healthy. With a decent chunk of change at their disposal, and early draft capital to address other spots, Detroit could juice up its balanced offense by spending big for Jacobs, who registers as a potential Dan Campbell favorite for his hard-nosed style."

Jacobs would amount to an all-in move for the Lions to replace Williams, if they find themselves in that situation. But he would be worth the investment.

Update, March 3, 3:52 p.m. ET: The Raides plan to franchise tag Jacobs.