Bucs sign fourth-round draft pick WR Mike Williams

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the process of signing their 2010 draftees Friday, inking fourth-round pick Mike Williams to a four-year contract worth $3.15 million.

Williams, a Syracuse product, was the second of two receivers claimed by the Bucs in the early rounds of the draft. Arrelious Benn of Illinois was selected in the second round.

Benn and Williams are expected to compete for starting jobs this season as the Bucs look to revamp a receiving corps that has been short on talent and production in recent years.

"I love this game, so I urged my agent, Hadley Engelhard, to reach an agreement quickly," Williams said in a statement issued by the team. "I am focused on the opportunity to contribute to the team and am very excited to be a Tampa Bay Buccaneer."

The 6-foot-2, 204-pound Williams caught 49 passes for 746 yards and six touchdowns in seven games last season at Syracuse. He caught 20 touchdowns during his three season and at least one pass in 27 consecutive games for the Orange.

He was considered a first-round talent by many scouts, but dropped to the fourth round largely because of off-field issues. He missed a season because of an academic suspension and quit the team with three games to go in 2009 after getting into a dispute with Syracuse coach Doug Marrone.

Williams accepted responsibility for those incidents, but said they were largely the result of misunderstandings and he is not a problem player.

"I'm not a bad guy,'' Williams said shortly after being drafted in late April. "I didn't have off-the-field issues. I just had some in-school issues. And I'm not a quitter. That's not my style, and Tampa Bay will see that.''

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik said the team did exhaustive research into Williams' past and came away with little to suggest they were taking a great risk in making him a part of their offensive.

"When you go back and do your research and look at what's really in his past in terms of any kind of aggravated assaults, the only thing I can tell you is he had a speeding ticket,'' Dominik said.

"This is a kid who missed a year because of academics, but did the work in junior college, got his grades back up, and could have gone to any Division I-AA program but he chose to go back to Syracuse.''

"Now, obviously, at Syracuse, with three games remaining, he made a poor choice. I'm not going to debate that. And I think he paid the price - dropping all the way to the fourth round - because he's a first or second-round talent.''

To make room for Williams on the roster, the Bucs cut guard Michael Shumard.