Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams is signing the franchise tag the team applied last month, which locks him into a one-year deal with the team that traded for him ahead of the 2019 trade deadline.
The salary for that deal may not been set in stone, however. According to multiple reports, Williams is expected to file a grievance to be listed as a defensive end rather than a defensive tackle under the terms of the tag. Williams generally played on the outside of a three-man line, which is often classified as a defensive tackle because there’s a linebacker flanking them.
Defensive ends have a franchise tag value of $17.9 million while defensive tackles make $16.1 million.
In addition to that fight, Dan Duggan of TheAthletic.com reports that Williams filed a grievance about how much money he made under the terms of his fifth-year option last year. The Jets classified Williams as a tackle and paid him $11.4 million rather than the $14.2 million that would have gone to a defensive end.
A long-term deal would make squabbling about his 2020 compensation moot, but Duggan reports nothing is imminent on that front.