Seahawks acquiring Giants DL Leonard Williams for pair of draft picks
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Leonard Williams #99 of the New York Giants reacts during the game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. The Bills beat the Giants 14-9. (Photo by Lauren Leig
The Seattle Seahawks are acquiring defensive lineman Leonard Williams from the New York Giants in exchange for a pair of draft picks, a source confirmed to FOX 13 Seattle.
"Just competing, trying to get better," head coach Pete Carroll said. "Just looking for a way to try to help us."
Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network were the first to report the deal on Monday. Seattle is sending a 2024 second-round draft pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Giants in exchange for Williams, who is set to become a free agent at the end of the year.
The deal won't be completely official until he passes a physical with the Seahawks. He's expected to get to Seattle on Tuesday afternoon. However, both teams announced the agreement on Monday.
"He's a fantastic football player and he's the kind of guy can make a difference in games. He's really a nice player," Carroll said.
Williams, 29, is a former No. 6 overall draft pick of the New York Jets in 2015 and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2016. After being traded to the Giants in 2019, Williams posted a career high 11.5 sacks in 2020 and posted a career-high in tackles with 21 in 2021.
"He's a little different. His style is different," Carroll said. "He's a classic three-technique. He's been doing that for a long part of his career and he's really good at it. An all-around player, versatile, run and pass, rush the passer, causes issues and problems for your opponent. He's a terrific kid. He's a leader and competitor and just the kind of guy that you're fortunate to have on your team."
On the defensive line, technique numbers just refer to alignment positioning. A zero-technique is nose-to-nose with an opposing center with the number increasing as you get further from the ball. A three-technique aligns over the guards while a five technique is over the tackles.
Williams has played all three spots during his career and gives the team versatility in how they want to deploy their defensive line moving forward.
"Everybody's going to play," Carroll said.
Williams' contract technically runs through the 2024 season, but the contract is set to void after this season. The Giants are reportedly going to rework Williams' contract to help facilitate the trade to Seattle. His contract carries $18 million in base salary for the 2023 season, which works out to just under $1 million a game. The Seahawks have less than $6 million in salary cap space, per the NFL Players' Association database.
Per Albert Breer of The Monday Morning Quarterback, the Giants will take on all of Williams' salary except for the prorated veteran minimum the Seahawks have to take. Per the CBA, that amount means just under $650,000 for the remaining 10 weeks of the NFL season.
In exchange for holding onto more money from the contract, the Giants get a better draft pick package from Seattle with the second-round pick in next year's draft being the key piece.
The Seahawks also have an additional third-round draft pick coming from the Denver Broncos in next year's draft. It will be the lesser of Denver's two third-round picks. Carroll said having that extra pick helped make them comfortable parting with a second-round pick.
"We thought this was one of those situations where we can get a rare player and he's young enough and hopefully we can have a chance to get him back again. And he could be a big factor," Carroll said. "This kind of choice reminds us that we don't have these options very often to get a player like that. When you get a player that is that obviously really at the head of his class, we'd like to take a shot at it when we can."
Williams has played at least 12 games in each of his first nine seasons in the NFL and has played in all eight games for the Giants this year. He has 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks on a Giants team that is really struggling and turning their attention to the future.
Williams will help the Seahawks bolster their depth following the loss of Uchenna Nwosu to a pectoral injury last week. He can play multiple spots across the defensive line and gives the team another proven veteran option along the defensive interior. Williams isn't a direct reinforcement for the loss of Nwosu as they don't play the same role. However, the addition will help give Seattle some more options to turn to in order to adjust to Nwosu's absence.