Josh Williams

Career StatsD

Year	Team	GP	Yards	TD	YPC
Career		3	11	—	2.8
2025		3	11	0	2.8

Updated Mar 24, 2026

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

Salary-cap math on Josh Williams' contract works out to a D Contract Value Index given the dead-cap exposure and term. A $4M AAV deal for a second-year running back with a D performance grade and an F sentiment grade is indefensible, especially when Williams carried zero offensive production through 3 games in the 2025 season before his six-game suspension derailed what was already a marginal roster tenure. The running back market doesn't justify $4M annually for a fringe depth piece with no established role, and the Buccaneers' recent personnel moves—signing multiple defensive and offensive linemen while extending other skill-position talent—suggest the organization has lost confidence in Williams as a centerpiece of any offensive plan. At 25 years old and in his rookie season, Williams still has theoretical runway for development, but the suspension and the subsequent loss of organizational trust have poisoned the narrative around him; there's no cushion for a young player carrying this much reputational baggage to justify his salary. The CVI reflects the hard reality: this contract is overpaying for a player the team itself has already signaled it doesn't view as a core contributor, and unless Williams executes a dramatic on-field and off-field turnaround during training camp, his $4M AAV will function as dead money relative to actual production.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the D band — a quick read on where Josh's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

Tape review and box-score baselines converge on a D performance grade for Josh Williams. The rookie running back has delivered replacement-level production across his limited opportunities, offering almost nothing to differentiate him from standard depth-chart filler in either the rushing or receiving game. His most tangible contribution came on special teams — the 39-yard kick return stands as his only moment of genuine field impact — but that isolated bright spot cannot mask a career that has already been derailed by circumstances beyond the field. Williams appeared in just 3 games during the 2025 season before a six-game suspension for a drug-related violation effectively sidelined him, and while the Buccaneers elected to bring him back rather than cut him permanently, the organization's subsequent roster additions at skill positions make clear they are not counting on him as part of their offensive plans. The mediaFraming is unsparing: zero career offensive statistics, a crushed reputation, and a trajectory that now hinges entirely on demonstrating sustained reliability off the field — a threshold that has become far more consequential than any on-field performance evaluation. Without an established role and facing near-total organizational and fan skepticism, Williams enters the 2026 offseason as a fringe lottery ticket rather than a roster contributor, and only a flawless training camp and a genuine pattern of changed behavior can begin to rehabilitate his standing.

How Josh Compares at the Position

Josh Williams ranks 142nd of 175 graded running backs by performance. That slots Josh between Kye Robichaux (D+) just ahead and Isaiah Davis (D) just behind.

Fan Sentiment

Josh Williams has generated about as toxic a public narrative as a fringe roster player can accumulate, and the F sentiment grade reflects a near-total collapse in media and fan confidence around the 24-year-old running back. The story is straightforward and brutal: a PEDs suspension swallowed everything, reducing what was already a low-upside camp body signing into a cautionary headline machine, with coverage almost universally framing the drug policy violation as a disqualifying red flag rather than a minor setback. That narrative hole only deepened because there was so little on-field production to push back against it — a D+ performance grade tells you Williams offered almost nothing to offset the reputational damage, appearing in just 3 games in the 2025 season before the situation spiraled. The cruel irony captured in recent coverage is that a 39-yard kick return briefly gave Williams a moment of visibility, only for league discipline to immediately bury it, leaving fans to note the almost perfect bad timing. Tampa Bay's subsequent roster activity — signing Sean Tucker to an extension and adding multiple players at the skill positions — signals the organization has already moved its attention forward, making Williams' path back to even a practice squad role an enormous climb. At this point, the narrative around Williams isn't about development or potential; it's about whether he has any NFL future at all, and right now the media and fan consensus says probably not.