The New Orleans Saints have released their first player of the 2025 offseason, and it was a move everyone saw coming. On Tuesday, the team said goodbye to veteran running back Jamaal Williams. Williams spent two years with the team, and had one season left on his contract, but the Saints determined it was best to end things early.
The veteran running back was due just $3.2 million in 2025, but he’ll now be searching for a new team, and the Saints will be searching for running back depth.
Saints releasing RB Jamaal Williams. pic.twitter.com/emoblAvtkk
— NFL (@NFL) March 4, 2025
Saints release running back Jamaal Williams
Williams signed a three-year contract with New Orleans in 2023 free agency, after coming off a career year with the Detroit Lions. In 2022, he rushed for a career-high 1,066 yards, and a league-leading 17 touchdowns. That made him an exciting running back to add to a backfield that already had Alvin Kamara.
Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out well in New Orleans. In two seasons, Williams appeared in 27 total games, recording just 470 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 154 carries. On a team that was searching for valuable depth in the backfield, he wasn’t able to carve out a role for himself.
However, he did create a memorable moment with the team during his tenure. In Week 18 of his first season with the Saints, 2023, Williams scored his only touchdown of the year in a game against the Atlanta Falcons. The score came when New Orleans already had the game decided, and the offense set up as if they were going to kneel out the clock.
Instead, the players went rogue and decided to get Williams in the end zone for his lone touchdown of the season. Of course, it caused a lot of controversy, and intensified an already intense rivalry between the Saints and the Falcons, but it also showed how much Williams meant to the team, despite his minimal role.