With the NFL Lockout officially over as of Monday afternoon, NFL teams were allowed to begin negotiating with undrafted rookie free agents Monday night already and Notre Dame’s most notable draft day snub, Ian Williams, has apparently agreed to terms with the 49ers.
“Officially going to the San Francisco 49ers!!!” Williams posted on Twitter Monday night before adding, “Bout to do it big… Thank you that all helped me get here.”
Williams has already started receiving from love from former teammates via Twitter as well.
“@IWilliams95 congrats homie show them what you got out there,” said Trevor Laws.
Kyle Rudolph meanwhile posted, “@IWilliams95 congrats my man!!”
While undrafted rookies have been able to negotiate deals tonight, they will not be able to sign any contracts until tomorrow. Still, it seems very clear that Williams is headed to San Francisco and that the 49ers got one of the better undrafted rookies this year in Williams. Many were surprised when Williams went all draft weekend without hearing his phone ring from any NFL team after a very productive career at Notre Dame. In 2010 Williams was at times the only dominant player on the field for the Irish defense before the defensive renaissance that occurred at the end of the season.
Williams is heading to a team with a coach he is fairly familiar with too. The 49ers are under the guidance of first year head coach Jim Harbaugh – the former Stanford head coach who’s Cardinal teams beat Notre Dame each of the last two seasons.
Williams is also heading to a team that has had good luck drafting interior lineman out of Notre Dame. Former Notre Dame great Bryant Young played his entire career, a career that most likely will include a trip to Canton, in San Francisco.
Ian has been a fan favorite here at UHND for a long time and we certainly wish him well as he pursues his NFL career.
Now several other undrafted Notre Dame players wait for a team to give them a call and invite them to camp. Darrin Walls, Chris Stewart, Armando Allen, Brian Smith, Robert Hughes, and Kerry Neal should all get invites to camp – especially since camp rosters were expanded to 90 players this year.
