New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams has ended talk of leaving the Jets by agreeing a huge four-year deal worth $96 million.
This contract makes Williams the second-highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL behind Aaron Donald of Los Angeles Rams, who makes $31.7 million per year compared to the $24 million Williams is now on.
Even so, it represents a huge deal for both Williams and the Jets, who signed him in a first-round Draft pick in 2019. Coming off the back of his first-ever All Pro season in 2022, it demonstrates just how much the Jets wanted to keep him. It’s a substantial rise from his previous $9.6 million annual earnings.
In his four seasons with the Jets so far, Williams has collected 27.5 sacks, 33 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 11 passes defensed. This culminated in a 2022 season that ended with a place on the All-Pro list for the first time where he logged a career-best 12.5 sacks, plus two forced fumbles and one recovery in 16 games.
Best Efforts
Announcing the deal, Williams said: “The success of this organization is beyond important to me and completing this deal allows me to turn all my attention to positively impacting that. I am thrilled to put forth my best efforts alongside my brothers to get prepared for this season ahead of us.”
He had put some pressure on Jets management in January, stating that he wanted a new deal done before off-season began: “Everybody knows I’m a team guy, man. 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.”
That pressure built over the following months, with Williams clearly annoyed to see other defensive tackles picking up big new deals, like Jeffery Simmons, Dexter Lawrence and Daron Payne.
As well as skipping the start of the Jets voluntary workouts in April, he expressed his dissatisfaction on social media, even going so far as to remove the team’s name from his Twitter bio.
New Season Preparations
Just before the announcement of the deal, he restored the New York Jets to his bio, sparking rumors that an agreement was imminent and he’s now happily signed-up just in time to join their training camp on July 19.
It certainly helps the Jets plan for the new season without distractions,. Having added veteran defensive linemen Al Woods and Quinton Jefferson to their roster this offseason. However, they will have to do without another arrival this year with Chuck Clark tearing his ACL to rule him out for the whole season.
The Jets start their preseason on August 3 at Cleveland Browns before taking on Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and finally New York Giants, ahead of the regular season opener at the MetLife Stadium against Buffalo Bills on September 11.
Written and distributed by Chat T Sports.
