Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams is attached to a $32.3MM cap figure for 2023, which is the third-highest mark in the league and which places Williams behind only Patrick Mahomes and Ryan Tannehill. Nonetheless, Big Blue seems prepared to carry that number on its ledger.
Per Dan Duggan of The Athletic (subscription required), the Giants have shown “no interest” in extending Williams, who will be eligible for free agency after the season, or restructuring his contract. Either maneuver, of course, would push more money onto future caps, so it stands to reason that GM Joe Schoen would be hesitant to go down that road for a player whose sack totals have declined sharply over the past two years and who missed significant game action due to injury for the first time in his career in 2022.
Duggan himself reported back in March that Schoen planned to sit down with Williams to discuss a reduction of the player’s cap charge. Based on Duggan’s most recent report, however, it seems as if those talks may have been designed to gauge Williams’ interest in a pay cut and may not have included much conversation about an extension or restructure. Williams suggested in January that he may be amenable to a reduction in pay, but his current stance on the matter is unclear.
Despite Williams’ declining surface-level production — 11.5 sacks in 2020, 6.5 in 2021, and 2.5 in 2022 — he continues to perform well in the eyes of the advanced metrics. Pro Football Focus assigned him a 74.2 overall grade last year, which placed him 19th out of 127 qualified interior linemen, and he was viewed as an above-average run defender and pass rusher. Plus, although Schoen did bolster his DL rotation with free agent acquisitions of A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches, the playoff-hopeful Giants are clearly better with Williams than without him, so a release seems unlikely.
Indeed, the Robinson and Nunez-Roches signings may even enhance Williams’ performance by reducing the number of snaps he has to play, which was a priority for Schoen when the offseason began. As Duggan notes, Schoen could theoretically wait until closer to the start of the regular season to demand that Williams agree to a reduction of his $18MM salary, because at that point there will likely be no team that would be willing or able to absorb a contract worth anything close to that figure. Of course, that would represent a hardnosed negotiation tactic that would be sure to anger Williams and his teammates, so Schoen is unlikely to go that route.
For now, it appears that Williams will get his $18MM salary and that the Giants will have to live with his massive cap charge, secure in the knowledge that even if Williams falters in 2023, they will be free from his contract in 2024, when they will only be on the hook for a ~$6MM cap hit stemming from a September restructure.
I like not passing the buck down the road as has been the trend past few seasons. Could be a trade deadline move for some draft capital. Contingent on record and how the new DL are progressing. I don’t think either Dexter or Leonard are as good alone then together on a play. so I don’t see them shopping him just to shop. He prob is looking for another 3 yr contract and I think Giants could use that money and fill 2-3 holes. In addition, If the D has another solid season Wink could move into a HC role, handcuffing the next DC to 2 DL making big money.
No team will be able to absorb his cap hit at the deadline, I’m not even sure a team today can just absorb his cap number, I watched my GM continue to push stuff down the road and it turned us into the worst team in the league having to pay more for guys off our roster than on it last year, giants are likely being smart in that regard while also having to stomach letting him walk for nothing next year
Out in Florham Park, the Jets are grinning like the Cheshire cat.