Talks between the Jets and their emerging defensive star have, as foreshadowed yesterday, yielded a deal. Quinnen Williams has agreed to terms on an extension, reports Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Williams, 25, will earn $96M over four years, making this the NFL’s second-largest contract handed out to a defensive tackle. The mega-contract includes $66M in guaranteed money, Pelissero adds. One of the key points in contract talks was the length, rather than financial terms, per SNY’s Connor Hughes, who tweets that Williams got his preferred four- (rather than five-) year pact.
The 2023 offseason has seen the DT market erupt, and it comes as no surprise that Williams has become the latest to cash in. The former No. 3 pick enjoyed a career year in 2022, recording 12 sacks, a pair of forced fumbles and 28 QB hits. Those figures helped earn him Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods and gave him considerable leverage at the negotiating table.
Williams made it clear that he intended to have an extension worked out by April, under the threat of skipping out on voluntary OTAs. In the time that has passed since, then, other young producers along the defensive interior have inked deals of their own. Jeffery Simmons (Titans), Daron Payne (Commanders), Dexter Lawrence (Giants) and Ed Oliver (Bills) are among the beneficiaries of the new, lucrative market, and Williams has now surpassed each of them with this pact.
The Alabama product will earn $24M per season on his second contract, just ahead of Simmons’ $23.5M AAV but still well short of Aaron Donald‘s $31.67M figure. Williams was already on the books for this season via the fifth-year option (valued at $9.6M), so his time in the Big Apple will run through the 2027 campaign at a far more lucrative rate.
By securing this deal, the Jets have retained a homegrown high-impact player for the first time in the Joe Douglas era. Williams is the first Jets first-rounder to secure a second contract with the team since 2011 draftee Muhammad Wilkerson. A number of other young players Douglas has added will likely receive extensions of their own in the intermediate future, but today’s is a significant sign of progress for the win-now franchise.
New York inked linebacker Quincy Williams to a three-year extension earlier this offseason, so he and his brother now have a shared future with the Jets. From a league-wide perspective, it will be interesting to see how much of an impact today’s news has on negotiations between the Chiefs and Chris Jones. The latter has been angling for a deal that will place him in the No. 2 spot amongst defensive tackle compensation, and a report from earlier this week indicated an agreement could be imminent. Kansas City may have to up their offer to satisfy Jones’ goal of surpassing all DTs behind Donald in the pecking order.
Given their acquisition of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, 2023 (and, perhaps, a season or so beyond that) is a campaign holding considerable expectations for the Jets. While the future Hall of Famer should elevate the team’s offense, its defense will still be counted on to perform at the elite level it showcased last season. Williams will be at the heart of that effort now and for many years in the future.
More must-reads: