Jan 5, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks Defensive End Leonard Williams (99), Free Safety Devon Witherspoon (21) and Nose Tackle Jarred Reed (90) celebrate a 4th down stop at SoFi Stadium, as the Seattle Seahawks face off versus the Los Angeles Rams Week 18 matchup. William Navarro-Imagn Images

Leonard Williams names something Seahawks have that most NFL teams don't

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 10:30 AM ET

Odds are the Seattle Seahawks had their eye on Leonard Williams long before he joined the team. Williams came into the NFL 10 years ago out of USC, Pete Carroll's former haunt. Whenever Carroll's interest started we'll never know, but he did manage to land Williams in what was his last major trade while having roster control for the franchise.

The deal didn't look great at the time - the Giants getting two picks for what might be a half-season rental for a team that wound up losing every meanginful game for the rest of that campaign. The Seahawks were right to recognize that Williams deserved exactly none of the blame, though - and they re-signed him to a lucrative three-year deal that's turning out to be one of their best investments.

Williams has been Seattle's best player since coming over from New York - and heading into his third season with the Seahawks he sees something rare in this group, per John Boyle at the team website.

"I'm going into Year 11, so I've played a lot of football and been on a lot of teams, and not only am I seeing that we have a very talented team right now, one thing that stands out above the talent is just the connection. That's something I've been trying to talk to the guys about, that's really going to take us to that next level where we want to go. I've told them that I've been on tons of talented teams that we had great players at all positions, but we just didn't have that same connection."

Williams, he's about to turn 31 years old but shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, last season was arguably Williams' best since entering the NFL a decade ago.

That special connection that WIlliams mentioned could soon make this the best defense he's ever been a part of.

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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