Bucs Can Wait On Cadillac

It has been a little more than a year since Cadillac Williams carried a football in anger against anyone. Still, hurdles loom for the Bucs' beleaguered running back.

The next one is just ahead. After today's game against Carolina, Williams will be eligible to come off the Physically Unable to Perform list and not only rejoin his teammates but also the active roster. For one simple reason, his chances of clearing that hurdle seem a bit slim.

As much as they might want Williams back, the Bucs don't really need another running back right now. They're having a hard time finding work for the three they already have. Adding a fourth seems a little unnecessary.

Two things could change that, of course. The first is an injury. Should Earnest Graham, Warrick Dunn or Michael Bennett go down today, the Bucs could easily fill the void by activating Williams.

The second is a trade. The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, and if an extra sixth- or seventh-round draft pick is something the Bucs feel they really need, they could probably get it by dealing Bennett, the least-used of their three active tailbacks.

Bennett, in fact, might even welcome such a move. He wants to be a Buccaneer, but he also wants to play. He has done very little of that since joining the Bucs as a replacement for Williams last year, so he probably wouldn't balk at being moved again.

Trading Bennett seems a bit risky, though, especially when no one really knows how close Williams is to regaining the form that made him one of the league's most explosive young backs.

Williams might be showing promise in his private workouts, but there is a big difference between running well on your own and effectively weaving your way through a maze of angry tacklers at full speed on Sunday afternoon.

Williams might still need a few more weeks - or even a few more months - to regain top form. And he certainly won't be in game shape when he becomes eligible to come off the PUP list, so dumping Bennett to make room for Williams seems a little imprudent.

The last thing the Bucs want to do is intentionally reduce the tremendous depth they have at one of the most important positions on the field, and trading Bennett away would do that.

The wiser thing would be to hold on to Bennett. He is a home-run hitter, after all, much like Williams. That's why the Bucs traded for him in the first place. And despite his lack of work this year, there is still reason to believe he is capable of playing at an elite level.

He proved as much during the preseason, when he ran 45 times for a team-leading 203 yards and a touchdown and ranked second on the team in pass receptions with 10 for 52 yards. The latter stat is rather notable.

When last we saw Williams playing, he still wasn't much of a pass catcher. It was a skill he was still trying to develop. Now he's trying to come back from a knee injury that usually ruins a running back's career.

Add it all up and what you have is a situation in which Bennett might be the more valuable player. That's another reason to hold on to him. Here is another: The Bucs don't have to make a final decision on Williams right now.

Even if they do pull him off PUP this week, they would have three more weeks to decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster or place him on injured reserve and end his season.

That's a luxury the Bucs should - and probably will - take advantage of. It will give them three weeks to see how far Williams has come since tearing his right patellar tendon against the Panthers last season.

Sure, it's been a long haul for Williams. And the hope is he will once again be a valuable contributor to this franchise's efforts.

Until the Bucs know for sure, though, that Williams is indeed a better option than the players they already have, he's better off staying right where he is.