The top remaining priority in what has been a busy Jets offseason is finalizing a new deal for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. That process has taken longer than many expected, but the situation appears to still be in a relatively good place.

Brian Costello and Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post note that both sides remain confident an extension will be agreed to, potentially before mandatory minicamp in mid-June. They add that team and player are not believed to be “that far apart” on contract terms, an encouraging sign which points to an agreement being reached to keep the All-Pro in New York for the long-term future.

Williams, 25, put himself in line for a massive extension in 2022. He earned his first career All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods by totaling 55 stops, 12 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. He is due $9.59MM this season on the fifth-year option, but a multi-year deal will check in at a much larger figure than that, especially given the upward movement seen in the DT market this offseason. Deals signed by Dexter Lawrence, Daron Payne and Jeffery Simmons have all averaged either $22.5MM or $23.5MM per year with at least $60MM in gurantees.

Williams could command such a rate on a four- or five-year deal, given his age and production. The former third overall pick has been away from the Jets’ OTAs, however, and he recently removed all mention of the team on his social media pages amidst contract talks. That, in turn, came not long after a report remerged that the two sides were not close on terms.

Today’s update is certainly more encouraging, though, as Williams and the Jets continue to look to take care of their long-term future with each other this spring. New York currently sits near the bottom of the league in terms of cap space, but plenty of roster moves are yet to be made this offseason aimed at freeing up financial flexibility. Given the team’s expectations for immediate success in 2023, Williams figures to play a large role in their performance at the start of the Aaron Rodgers era and beyond. A deal securing his status as one the team’s top investments may not be far away.

The defensive tackle market has seen a number of monster deals recently, including the $94MM extension agreed to on Friday by Titans Pro Bowler Jeffery Simmons. That will likely affect talks between the Jets and Quinnen Williams, who could be the next in line at the position to secure a sizeable raise.
Williams is set to play on the fifth-year option in 2023, which will earn him $9.6MM. A new deal will comfortably outpace that figure, considering his age (25) and ascension into an All-Pro producer this past season. The Alabama product set new career-highs in sacks (12), tackles for loss (12) and quarterback hits (28) in 2022, which helped earn him his first Pro Bowl nod.

That should put the former No. 3 pick in line for one of the league’s most lucrative contracts on the defensive interior. Extension talks have an unofficial deadline of the team’s offseason program later this month, based on comments Williams himself made earlier this year. The front office has publicly struck an optimistic tone on the matter of getting a deal done soon, though work remains to be done on that front.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports that talks are ongoing, but he adds that no deal is imminent at this time. As a result, the strong possibility remains that Williams will not report to New York’s voluntary workouts which start April 17. Urgency could pick up to a degree in the coming days, though plenty of time remains through the remainder of the spring and summer to get an extension done.

The Jets also have other major deals on the agenda at the moment, of course. New York is still in talks with Green Bay on the trade which will send Aaron Rodgers to the Big Apple presuming it is finalized at some point. In addition, moves made possible by the domino effect of acquiring the four-time MVP (such as potentially signing Odell Beckham Jr.) also need to be accounted for.

Regardless of how the Jets’ offense looks in 2023, however, Williams figures to remain as a foundational member of their defense for many years to come. The value of Simmons’ deal – as well as those signed earlier this offseason by Daron Payne with the Commanders and Javon Hargrave with the 49ers – will likely boost the floor of Williams’ asking price, though the Jets should still be relatively well-positioned to meet it.

When talking with the media yesterday, Jets general manager Joe Douglas expressed some optimism towards the prospect of extending star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post. The 25-year-old is headed towards a contract year in the fifth season of his rookie contract and doesn’t expect to play through it without a new deal.

Williams made it known early after the season ended that he had desires for a new contract. The four-year defender in New York has certainly made a case to become one of the highest paid players at his position, and it sounds like the Jets are more than willing to accommodate. Costello reports that Jets ownership “gave Douglas the green light” for negotiations, and Douglas feels good about it so far.

“We’ve had several good discussions with (Williams’s agent Nicole Lynn) and Quinnen since the season,” Douglas said of the situation. “We feel really good about where we’re at. We feel good that this process is going to play out in the right way.”

It’s important that the process does “play out in the right way” as Williams has reportedly claimed that, barring an extension, he plans to “stay away from the voluntary portion of the offseason program.” With the voluntary offseason program just over a month away, Douglas and company will likely be focused on getting a deal done fairly quickly, with April as a deadline.

The thought that this is a priority for the New York front office should put a smile on Williams’s face. Williams put together some pretty good seasons over the first three years of his NFL career, but he saved his best play for the season just prior to when he wanted a new contract. In his most recent year of play, Williams put up career highs in sacks (12.0), tackles for loss (12), quarterback hits (28), and passes defensed (4), while matching career highs in total tackles (55) and forced fumbles (2). Williams’s career year was good enough to qualify him as the fourth-best interior defender, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), behind only stars of the game Chris Jones and Aaron Donald and fellow fourth-year standout Dexter Lawrence.

When looking at a new contract, we should have a good idea of what Williams could receive. For interior defensive lineman, we often see contracts of three or four years. The current highest annual earner at the position is, of course, Donald with the Rams, who makes $31.67MM per year on a three-year deal. Unfortunately, as Donald is a generational talent who is largely untouched by his colleagues, Williams likely won’t sniff Donald’s numbers. Besides Donald, though, Williams has an opportunity to set a new bar for defensive tackles.

Currently, Colts defender DeForest Buckner and Giants versatile lineman Leonard Williams lead the position in annual average value with $21MM. The Chiefs’ star, Jones, is just behind at $20MM and also headed towards a contract year. Williams will benefit from negotiating a new deal at a later date than Buckner and the Giants’ Williams, as contracts tend to continually rise as time goes on. Williams, of the Jets, should expect his new contract to surmount both players’ contracts on the way to an AAV of $22-24MM.

The Jets are hoping to avoid a hold out of their best defensive player. With April drawing ever nearer, New York will likely be putting forth an extension offer of four years worth around $88-92MM. If Donald gets more serious than just flirting with retirement, Williams stands a chance at becoming the highest paid defensive tackle in the league.

Quinnen Williams is already making it clear that he wants a new contract…and he wants it ASAP. The Jets defensive lineman told reporters yesterday that he wants to sign an extension by April or he won’t report to the voluntary portion of the offseason program, per Brian Costello of the New York Post.

“Everybody knows I’m a team guy, man,” Williams said. “But I do want to get a contract done before the offseason program. I do feel like I deserve to get a contract done before the offseason program just because I did everything right on the field and everything right off the field. Having the organization behind me just like I’m behind them to show that they really support me is a major thing for me.”

The 2019 first-round pick has one year remaining on his rookie pact after the Jets picked up his fifth-year option. At the moment, Williams is set to earn $9.6MM next season. The league’s top defensive tackles earn at least $20MM per season, so Williams will surely be eyeing a significant pay raise on his next deal.

Williams was a bit trick-or-treat through his first three seasons in the NFL, but he finally seemed to put it all together during the 2022 campaign. The 25-year-old ended up finishing the season with career-highs in tackles (55), sacks (12), QB hits (28), and forced fumbles (two) en route to his first career Pro Bowl nod. Pro Football Focus rated Williams as one of the top interior defenders in the NFL, ranking him fourth among 126 qualifying players.

With the end of the 2021 NFL season signaling defensive tackle Quinnen Williams‘ eligibility to sign a contract extension to remain in New York, the intentions of both parties have become much more clear, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post. While early reports on the situation left room for doubt, positing that it made fiscal sense for the Jets to wait but could improve team-player relations for the Jets to pay, all the most recent signs indicate that New York will wait until after the 2022 season to attempt to extend Williams. 

Despite not getting the line help from free agent addition Carl Lawson, Williams had a very good season, albeit a disappointing one for those who expected Williams to take his play to the next level under head coach Robert Saleh‘s new defense. Lawson’s absence caused offenses to focus on Williams, but the young defender still graded out as the 37th best interior lineman out of 109, according to Pro Football Focus. Williams was 28th in pass rush grading and 47th against the run last year while leading the team in sacks (6.0) and finishing second on the team in quarterback hits (12) and tackles for loss (7.0).

With Lawson out and offenses focused on Williams, defensive line teammates Folorunso Fatukasi and John Franklin-Myers both excelled their way to big paydays, with Fatukasi’s taking him to the sunny shores of Duval County. This year’s lineup sets up much better for Williams to breakout. With the departure of Fatukasi, the Jets will ask Sheldon Rankins to step up. Fatukasi earned starting time over Rankins last year due to his superior play on run defense, but Rankins was more successful in the pass rush, racking up 3.0 sacks to Fatukasi’s zero. On the ends, New York will not only add a healthy Lawson opposite Franklin-Myers, but will also bring in rookie first-round pick Jermaine Johnson II. On obvious passing downs, New York can substitute Franklin-Myers on the inside for Rankins and bring in Johnson on the end. Regardless of how they form it, the defensive line around Williams should set him up better for success.

Another factor that could lead Williams to his best season in a contract year is his own health. Williams was forced to have surgery to fix a broken bone in his foot in the spring of 2021. This caused him to miss all of the team’s spring practices and most of the Jets’ training camp. With a full offseason with Saleh under his belt, Williams should be fully prepared to excel in his fourth season.

In terms of the contract situation, things have been quiet. Williams is heading into his fourth season with the team, making him eligible for a contract extension. The Jets also picked up the fifth-year option on Williams’ rookie contract, ensuring he can stay with the team through the 2023 season. After that the franchise tag amount is not insane for defensive tackles, so New York could retain Williams through the 2024 season at a bargain price.

Though he’s never quite graded out like the best at his position, Williams will likely get paid like them when he eventually gets a new contract, due to his effectiveness and production. So it makes much more fiscal sense to keep paying Williams like a rookie for as long as the team feasibly can. Luckily for them, Williams has no problem with that. Williams and his agent, Nicole Lynn, “have not made noise about his contract this offseason.”

Williams has been consistent in affirming that money is not currently a driving factor for him. If he can have a career-year, though, on the eve of a new contract, Williams may let his play do all the negotiating he hasn’t bothered to initiate and can land a massive second contract as a free agent. For now, though, the Jets and Williams are content to wait it out.