As the media descended on OTAs last month, Lions head coach Dan Campbell wasted little time to highlight the progress wide receiver Jameson Williams has made.
"He’s a man on a mission. I'm just going to leave it at that,” Campbell said.
Campbell was then asked where specifically Williams has improved.
"Everywhere."
The Lions have kept the door open for Williams to fully emerge in his third season. This has been his first full offseason without an injury rehab, etc. By all accounts, he has embraced the expectations and put in good work. There were some lingering kinks to work out during OTAs and minicamp, but it's all positivity on Williams right now. Ideally, he'll keep the momentum rolling right through training camp and into the season.
Wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El noted the physical strength Williams has added, and his broader grasp of his role in the Lions' offense.
Lions would never entertain ludicrous idea to trade Jameson Williams anytime soon
It's no secret how big a season this is for Williams in his career. In a more direct sense, after the season, the Lions will have a decision to make on him. By early next May, since he was a first-round pick, they'll have to decide whether or not to pickup his fifth-year option. What he does this season will surely tip those scales one way or the other. But they will also surely give him the full season to show himself as a part of the future, or not.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report has outlined some hypothetical trades which would reunite a quarterback with a wide receiver. Some are college reunions, including one involving a young Lions' receiver reuniting with his college signal caller.
But even with the premise of being sheerly hypothetical, and not necessarily likely, Knox went a little too far to suggest a trade reuniting Williams with his quarterback at Alabama.
"If Williams doesn't show the desired progress on the field, however, Detroit might listen to offers at the trade deadline. It would behoove the Panthers to at least make a pitch and try reuniting him and Young in Carolina."
-Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report
From the Carolina Panthers' end, with the development of Bryce Young so critical for them, it sort of makes sense they could think about making a trade offer for Williams.
If Williams doesn't perform well early in the season, it's theoretically possible the Lions would consider moving him at the trade deadline if an offer came. What kind offer would get them to actually trade him is another conversation, let alone if the Panthers would make an offer that would be anything other than a low-ball offer in a scenario where he's not playing well.
All signs point to the Lions playing out the entire 2024 season with Williams, then making a decision on his future. That will of course include the decision on that fifth-year option. Maybe then a trade comes into play.
But they will not, and truly should not, give up on Williams during the season unless circumstances push things that direction in an unexpected way.