Miami Dolphins center Connor Williams was having one of the better years of his career in 2023 before he suffered a torn ACL just six snaps into the team’s Week 13 battle with the Tennessee Titans.
Williams is set to hit free agency this offseason after spending the last two seasons with Miami on a deal that paid him $14.04 million, but he held out for more before the year, so he’ll be looking for more than the $7.02 million he was making annually on his next contract.
Speaking on WQAM’s “The Joe Rose Show,” Williams’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, shared some information on the center’s offseason plans.
“I do think that we’re going to be very methodical and take our time relative to the contract,” Rosenhaus said (transcribed by the Miami Herald’s Daniel Oyefusi). “A lot of it may be predicated on how Connor is feeling physically. He may not be a player who signs at the very start of free agency. He may take more time based on how he’s feeling physically.
“Connor’s situation has a degree of uncertainty that’s going to be tied to how he’s feeling. And really, we’ll just take it one day at a time once we get into the offseason. But I’m not sure that that is one that’ll be resolved as quickly as some of the other players that we represent.”
This may be good for Miami for two reasons.
First, it allows the teams that are going to be big spenders this offseason to get their big contracts out of the way first, meaning there could be less competition for Williams’ services later in the offseason.
Second, the Dolphins could get some cap relief with a post-June 1 relief of cornerback Xavien Howard. If Williams were to wait that long to be signed, a portion of the savings ($18.5 million) from Howard’s dismissal could be used to re-sign the center to a long-term deal.