Less than eight months after he helped Indiana complete the most improbable season in program history, former Hoosiers wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr. is looking for his next NFL opportunity.

The Carolina Panthers released Williams from their practice squad on Tuesday, five days after signing the 6-foot-3, 203-pound receiver, via the NFL transaction wire.

The move came as Carolina added veteran Ihmir Smith-Marsette to the same unit. Williams, 24, is now a free agent again after a brief stop in Charlotte that never produced a game appearance.

For Hoosier fans, the news lands with a familiar mix of pride and perspective. Williams was part of the 2025 Indiana team that went 16-0, captured the program’s first national championship, and beat Miami 27-21 in the College Football Playoff title game.

He finished that career year with 36 receptions for 438 yards and six touchdowns across 15 games, including a 109-yard, two-score outburst against UCLA and a touchdown catch from Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza in the Peach Bowl semifinal against Oregon.

Williams arrived in Bloomington in 2023 as a Clemson transfer after three seasons with the Tigers, where he had caught 40 passes for 442 yards and two scores. Injuries limited him in 2023 and 2024.

He even entered the portal midseason in 2024 before withdrawing and redshirting. Healthy in 2025 under Curt Cignetti, he became a reliable piece of an offense that rewrote Indiana football’s identity.

Undrafted in April, Williams signed with the Las Vegas Raiders and reunited briefly with Mendoza. He recorded three catches for 52 yards in the preseason before being waived at final cuts.

The Panthers gave him a short look on the practice squad; it did not last.

Practice-squad churn is routine in the NFL. Williams’ college résumé is not.

He played 60 games across six seasons at two schools, earned a degree from Indiana, and left Bloomington as a champion on a team that went from the losingest program in FBS history to a perfect season and a title.

That chapter is finished. The next one is still being written.

Williams remains a long, experienced receiver with a national-title ring and recent production against Power conference defenses. Another team may decide those traits are worth another look.

For now, Indiana can remember him as one of the players who was there when the Hoosiers finally reached the mountaintop.