Former Bears OL Chris Williams to visit Eagles

Former Bears 1st round pick Chris Williams will visit the Eagles today after being cut by the Bears on Tuesday. The offensive tackle made 38 starts for the Bears after being drafted in 2008, but had not been in the lineup this season and was inactive for the past 2 weeks.

"Now, I will get an opportunity to go play somewhere, and I'm excited about that," Williams told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday. "The Bears are a good team, they will do well and I will miss the guys. It sucks being released and that type of thing. But sitting on the bench here for the whole year wasn't going to help me in free agency. Now, I'll get a chance somewhere else."

Williams was drafted as a left tackle out of Vanderbilt, but has made 20 of his career starts at left guard. Make no mistake about it, Williams was not a great player for the Bears. He did stick 5 years with them, but no team wants to cut a first round pick. Still, that doesn't mean he won't be an upgrade. This is a triage situation and the Eagles should be looking for new blood wherever they can find it.

And if you look at the scouting reports on Williams, there are some things that might make you think he could work in Howard Mudd's system. He's quick, has good feet and operates well in space. That's exactly what Mudd looks for. I wouldn't be surprised to see Williams competing for the starting LT job quickly... if for no other reason than by default.

Dan Klausner pointed out to me that the Eagles hired a guy named Greg Gabriel as a scout over the summer, he was the Bears director of college scouting in 2008 when Williams was drafted. So they do have an inside perspective on the kid.