Report: Leonard Williams agrees to three-year, $63 million deal with Giants

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The Giants used the franchise tag on Leonard Williams as a placeholder for a long-term deal. A week later, the sides have a deal.

The defensive lineman has agreed to a three-year, $63 million with the Giants that includes $45 million fully guaranteed, NFL Media reports. Williams will get a $22.5 million signing bonus, and his cap number drops from over $19 million to about $11 million.

The Giants traded for Williams in the middle of the 2019 season, sending a 2020 third-round pick and a 2021 fifth-round pick to the Jets. Williams had his best season in 2020, recording 11.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and 30 quarterback hits.

He played last year under the one-year tag of $16.126 million.

In 95 career games, Williams has 29 sacks, 48 tackles for loss and 131 quarterback hits. He was the sixth overall pick by the Jets in the 2015 draft.

23 responses to “Report: Leonard Williams agrees to three-year, $63 million deal with Giants

  1. Good for the Gmen. He’s a big, mean dude–exactly what you want on your D Line.

  2. That’s what happens when you trade for a player without giving him an extension as part of the trade. Ramsey, Tunsil, Amari Cooper, Leonard Williams, etc. all probably got more than they would have if not for the trade. The team that makes the trade needs to not look stupid so they overpay to keep the guy they traded for.

  3. Thats an overpay, sorry. He’s good but not 21m per year good. Jeez. Thats the end of our free agency for 2021.

  4. market has been set at this position and they had to pay to keep him…if washed von miller is getting paid 18 mill this year then this is a steal for the gmen

  5. Leonard Williams is about to hit cruise control.
    Should of kept him on franchise tag, make him stay hungry, he’ll be good again in the third year of that contract.

  6. sure seems like they overpaid – $21 Mil for a DLineman? Who were they trying to outbid?

  7. GM Gethsemane was at Carolina and did a poor job. He’s doing the same thing in NY. He said that they’re almost there. That’s funny because they haven’t won 7 games since he’s been there. He’s not good at bringing in enough talent to compete. The division is weak and has been prime for picking by someone.

  8. As a Jets fan, this is the contract announcement that really stings. A lot of people who don’t have a deep understanding of the game will say he’s overrated and overpaid, but this is a great signing for the Giants. The guy is a game changing talent, he might not have been getting double digit sacks every season but you need to change your game plan and ensure your blocking scheme accommodates for double teaming him every play – the Jets just never had the edge talent to make the most of that. I wish we never let him go, but glad to see him getting paid.

  9. Good for him. Good example of what playing for a team without a good quarterback can get you. Can’t get that deal with Seattle, green bay, etc with the qb sucking up all the money.

  10. His cap number drops to $11M? They overpay a bit but get cap space? He had a great year so good for him.

  11. Now that Dalvin Tomlinson (very underrated) is gone I wonder who’s going to be eating up those double teams in 2021 for Leonard? Guaranteed Williams’ production dips this season.

  12. stephanebonics says:
    March 16, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    That’s what happens when you trade for a player without giving him an extension as part of the trade. Ramsey, Tunsil, Amari Cooper, Leonard Williams, etc. all probably got more than they would have if not for the trade. The team that makes the trade needs to not look stupid so they overpay to keep the guy they traded for.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    No skin in the game on this. But he’s a really good young player just entering his prime and was going to get paid no matter what. Another way to look at it is the contract uncertainty drove down his trade value, so the it lowered his acquisition cost for the Giants.

  13. stephanebonics says: “That’s what happens when you trade for a player without giving him an extension as part of the trade. Ramsey, Tunsil, Amari Cooper, Leonard Williams, etc. all probably got more than they would have if not for the trade. The team that makes the trade needs to not look stupid so they overpay to keep the guy they traded for.”
    ——————–

    Please explain why Ramsey, Tunsil, Cooper, Williams, etc would need to or even want to sign an extension for the trade to happen. You really think those players don’t have agents telling them to play out the current contract and roll the dice for a big payday in free agency?

    And Williams was still under the rookie contract in 2019 for only $4m. Extending him at the trade that early means you’re paying him the going market rate for THAT YEAR as well as future years – ie Giants lose the low rookie salary voluntarily.

  14. Its an overpay.
    He’s good but not excellent.
    He had a career year when playing for a contract.
    3 years is short enough that he may stay all 3 years instead of getting cut after two.
    Maybe.

  15. Is it me or are these contract numbers bigger than ever and not just because of inflationary creep?

  16. Why would you pay a top 5, lazy draft bust this after trading for him which was a question in itself??!

    They need to get under the cap as it is by 4 pm tomorrow. What a poorly run franchise.

  17. smithopher says:
    March 16, 2021 at 4:10 pm
    As a Jets fan, this is the contract announcement that really stings. A lot of people who don’t have a deep understanding of the game will say he’s overrated and overpaid, but this is a great signing for the Giants. The guy is a game changing talent, he might not have been getting double digit sacks every season but you need to change your game plan and ensure your blocking scheme accommodates for double teaming him every play – the Jets just never had the edge talent to make the most of that. I wish we never let him go, but glad to see him getting paid.

    23 10 Rate This

    —————

    He was terrible! The Pats abused him twice a year. The Jets suck at getting dlinemen and have for decades. Even Quinnen Williams, who also sucks, is already on the block.

  18. arwiv says:
    March 16, 2021 at 4:17 pm
    Now that Dalvin Tomlinson (very underrated) is gone I wonder who’s going to be eating up those double teams in 2021 for Leonard? Guaranteed Williams’ production dips this season.
    ___________

    Fackrell missed a bunch and Zo Carter missed most of last season. Lawrence and Hill have done enough to be included in the pass rush rotation as well. Tomlinson was never resigning. They couldn’t afford both Williams and Dalvin, and they weren’t going to let the best player on their defense walk.

  19. smithopher says:
    March 16, 2021 at 4:10 pm
    As a Jets fan, this is the contract announcement that really stings. A lot of people who don’t have a deep understanding of the game will say he’s overrated and overpaid, but this is a great signing for the Giants. The guy is a game changing talent, he might not have been getting double digit sacks every season but you need to change your game plan and ensure your blocking scheme accommodates for double teaming him every play – the Jets just never had the edge talent to make the most of that. I wish we never let him go, but glad to see him getting paid.
    —————————————————————————————–
    The problem the Jets was he’s truly a 4-3 tackle not an end and they were running a 3-4 with no OLB’s that could get to QB so he was completely wasted tying up blockers for no one to get past …

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