Buffalo Bills: More than Meets the Eye to Releasing Karlos Williams

While the Buffalo Bills’ decision to release Karlos Williams was a shock to many, there is more to this story than people may realize.

Whatever you may make of everything that’s been going on with the Buffalo Bills, there’s no denying it’s been an interesting few months in Western New York. The drama continued on Saturday, with the team’s decision to release Karlos Williams.

The initial reaction from a lot of people — whether Bills fans or not — was one of shock, and understandably so. After all, we’re talking about a player who had more than 500 yards on less than 100 carries as a rookie, and led the team in rushing touchdowns.

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However, Williams’ success as a rookie may have given him the impression he had already made it in the NFL. Certainly, it would explain his turning up for camp overweight, although he blamed his overeating on wanting to make his pregnant fiancée feel better.

Unfortunately, even if this was the case, the 23-year old didn’t help himself when the NFL suspended him for the first four games of the regular season. The suspension came about, as a result of violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

It is important to note the team said they would support Williams, and Rex Ryan claimed he still had a shot at the main backup role behind LeSean McCoy. If true, why was he released on Saturday, especially after finally shedding 20 pounds and passing his physical?

One possibility — and keep in mind this comes with no inside knowledge — is the Davenport, Florida native turned down the Bills’ offer of help. In order to bring any legitimacy to this theory, consider how his release came on the same day Marcell Dareus announced he was going to enter rehab.

At the time, general manager Doug Whaley spoke to the media about Dareus’ decision: “Marcell is family and we are fully supporting him in this stage of his life.”

Given Whaley’s comments, why would the same support not be there for Williams, especially when considering this is not the first time Dareus has had issues since entering the NFL? Surely releasing the second-year running back at this point, is like kicking someone when they’re down – the exact opposite to supporting them.

Again, keeping in mind this is just a theory, it would seem to point towards Williams refusing the Bills’ request to get some help for his own substance abuse issue. However, if there is no truth to this, then it sure paints the Bills in a bad light, in respect of deciding who they will and won’t support.

Overall, we may never truly get to the bottom of why the Bills released the 2015 fifth round draft pick, no matter what their official stance is. Whaley claims the move was strictly performance-based, but make no mistake about it – there is more to this story than meets the eye.

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Why do you think the Bills released Williams? Further, are you on board with the decision, or do you believe the team was too hasty in getting rid of him? Let us know in the comments section below.