Giants DL Leonard Williams possibly done for year with elbow injury

Giants defensive end Leonard Williams suffered an elbow injury on Sunday (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Williams is still having tests done, but he’ll miss multiple games at the very least. 

The Giants are 4-9 on the year, so they have little reason to rush their high-priced edge rusher back to the field. Williams remains under contract through 2023 on the three-year, $63M pact he signed back in March. That contract will see his cap number jump from its current $9.4M to $27.3M next year.

In one of the more interesting moves of the offseason, the Giants gave Williams a second franchise tag prior to reaching that big-money extension. He certainly earned himself the longer-term investment and raise: In 16 games in 2020, he broke out with 11.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

The 27-year old was enjoying another productive season with the Giants, registering 62 tackles and 5.5 sacks along with one forced fumble. He started all 13 games this year, but according to Rapoport, “there is a chance he doesn’t return [in 2021]”.

In Williams’ absence, the Giants will have some shuffling to do along the defensive line. Alongside Dexter Lawrence and Austin Johnson, options to see an uptick in snaps include free agent signing Danny Shelton and undrafted rookie Raymond Johnson.

The Giants host the Cowboys in Week 15 in an attempt to get out of the basement in the NFC East.