Though the Seattle Seahawks weren't able to make a playoff push as hoped after acquiring Leonard Williams at the trade deadline in October, the franchise has sights on locking him up long term this offseason.
According to Jeff Howe of the Athletic, the Seahawks felt Williams played well enough after coming over from the Giants to warrant a contract extension and the two sides are expected to work towards a new deal to keep him in the Pacific Northwest. The former first-round pick out of USC will turn 30 years old in June and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next month.
Seeking a boost in the trenches heading into the final two months of play, Seattle dealt a second and fifth-round pick to New York in exchange for Williams on October 30, paying a pretty penny for a player in the final year of his contract. While his arrival didn't fuel a playoff run as general manager John Schneider anticipated, the veteran defender wasn't to blame for the team's second half implosion either.
Starting all 10 games for the Seahawks following the trade, Williams made history as the first player to suit up for 18 regular season games since 1930. Performing at a high level, per Pro Football Focus, he finished tied for 10th among defensive tackles with 32 quarterback pressures and a 12.2 pass rush productivity on true pass sets. He also contributed four sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 11 quarterback hits.
To put his production in Seattle in perspective, Williams ended the season with the fourth-most quarterback pressures, sixth-most sacks, and seventh in combined stops while playing far fewer games than the rest of his teammates. He also received the fourth-highest overall grade from PFF behind only Boye Mafe, Bobby Wagner, and Devon Witherspoon.
Given his production and the price the Seahawks paid to acquire him, it isn't difficult to understand why the organization wants to bring Williams back into the fold to play for new coach Mike Macdonald. But ultimately, re-signing him won't be a cheap endeavor, especially considering the cost of quality defensive tackles in today's NFL.
Williams just finished a three-year, $63 million contract he signed with the Giants before the 2021 season, earning an average salary of $21 million per year which ranked seventh at his position according to OverTheCap.com. Since he has been in the NFL now for nine seasons, he may not command a pay day quite that large, but even if he only commands top-10 money, the Seahawks will be looking at a bill approaching $18 million per year.
Making things even more challenging, Seattle has significant salary cap hurdles that need to be addressed before an extension with Williams can become a reality. With several bloated contracts carrying hefty cap hits in 2024, including safety Jamal Adams and receiver Tyler Lockett at north of $26 million, the team currently finds itself in the red with negative $5 million in cap space available.
In order to create much-needed cap space, difficult decisions will need to be made on a number of players, including potentially quarterback Geno Smith, whose $12.7 million base salary will become guaranteed on February 16. Restructures and extensions could be part of the equation, while cap casualties could be unfortunate business consequences for a few players as well.
Regardless, Schneider and cap guru Matt Thomas have been down this road many times in the past and Seattle does have plenty of mechanisms at its disposal to create instant space needed to re-sign Williams and other pending free agents. Whether a deal will happen will come down to the price point and if the two sides can strike an agreement before the new league year opens on March 13.
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