Colts Sign WR Maurice Williams

The Indianapolis Colts today announced a roster move, signing wide receiver Maurice Williams.  Williams spent the last two seasons in the Arena Football League.

Williams (6-1, 195 pounds) spent the 2012-13 season with the Cleveland Gladiators and 2013 with the Orlando Predators.  Williams did it all in his AFL career, playing wide receiver and defensive back as well as returning kicks.  In his 2 year career, he caught 39 passes for 517 yards and 12 touchdowns, racked up 33 tackles and 4 interceptions (with 3 touchdown returns on defense), and returned 35 kickoffs for 628 yards (17.9 average) and 2 scores.

Perhaps Williams isn't the name that people were expecting, but the fact that they signed a receiver shouldn't surprise anyone.  Aside from the top 5 guys (Reggie Wayne, Darrius Heyward-Bey, T.Y. Hilton, LaVon Brazill, and Griff Whalen), they really don't have anybody that has shown anything worthy of being kept on the roster, and Brazill is suspended for the first 4 games of the season while Whalen is currently out with a groin injury.  So it makes absolute sense to bring in another wide receiver to see what he can do and see if he can work his way on to the team.  His ability to return kicks should help him out as well, and the fact that he played defensive back could mean that he could contribute on special teams coverage units too.

While that's obviously the main reason why the Colts signed a wide receiver, I also can't help but wonder what this means about Whalen's injury.  Could it be that he will miss some more time?  I don't know, as we never really got any word on the injury other than that it was a groin, but it is certainly a possibility.

The move brings the Colts roster back up to 90 men.  The first cuts are not due until August 27 at 4:00 p.m. eastern time.