Marcus Williams became famous as a rookie because of the worst possible reason. He was in the wrong end of the Minneapolis Miracle, missing the tackle on Minnesota Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs that would’ve ended the game and sent his team to the NFC Championship Game, instead going home in a last-second loss.

Williams quickly became some kind of pariah for Saints fans after that play, but while that game is one of the most infamous things from the last decade, the safety kept working and working and working.

And the untold truth about that play? Williams was already good as a rookie. And the Baltimore Ravens got a damn good safety as they signed him to a five-year, $70M contract in free agency.

A couple of years ago, Marcus Williams was in coverage on the “Minneapolis Miracle.” He bounced right back from that, continued his progression into a terrific ground-covering safety and now gets paid big time for it. Good on you, Marcus. https://t.co/k6Voj0wc8I

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 15, 2022

The Saints lost another good player because of cap hell

We all like to say that the salary cap is fake, however it’s clear that once things get bleak, teams who are living in cap hell get problematic. Just look at how many good players the Saints lost over the last two years:

• WR Emmanuel Sanders, who would easily be WR1 last year if he wasn’t cut;
• S Marcus Williams, who has now moved on to Baltimore in a huge contract;
• EDGE Trey Hendrickson, who was one of the best EDGEs in the entire league and led the Bengals defense to the Super Bowl;
• DT Sheldon Rankins, a homegrown player who moved to the Jets even by being a good pass rusher through the interior
• S Vonn Bell, a former mainstay from the starting lineup

Don’t believe when people say the cap is fake. It isn’t. Marcus Williams is now moving on to play for the Ravens because the Saints are in cap hell. It’s another good player lost by New Orleans by virtue of financial problems.