When the Giants placed the franchise tag on defensive lineman Leonard Williams, the team was on the hook for $19,351 million, as it was the second straight season the team had done so. But the idea was always to get a longer-term deal done, as placing more than 10% of your salary cap on one defensive lineman is not an ideal scenario. So, on Tuesday, the Giants made it official, signing Williams to a three-year, $63 million contract with a whopping $45 million guaranteed.
We don’t yet know the year-to-year cap numbers, but it’ll obviously provide relief in 2021 while prorating larger cap hits to 2022 and 2023. The guaranteed money is the fifth-highest among interior defensive linemen, behind only Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Chris Jones, and DeForest Buckner. Very generous. The good news is that Williams proved last season that he’s a perfect fit in the Giants’ defensive concepts.
Had Williams been selected somewhere in the middle of the first round as opposed to sixth overall by the Jets in the 2015 draft, perhaps there would be a more even-handed assessment of his time with Gang Green. Though he never broke out as the kind of player who would merit that kind of draft capital, he did have a legitimate Pro Bowl season in 2016 with seven sacks, 55 pressures, and 48 stops as a hybrid player who alternated between tackle and end at 6-foot-5 and 302 pounds.
But it wasn’t until the Jets traded Williams to the Giants in October, 2019, that Williams saw his potential unleashed. Under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and his evil array of multiple fronts, Williams has been allowed to move with a total attack mentality, using his quickness, power, and array of moves to confound enemy offensive lines to the tune of 11.5 sacks, 18 quarterback hits, 31 quarterback hurries, and 30 stops in 2020.
This sack of Russell Wilson in Week 13 is one of the most interesting you’ll see from last season. Williams (No. 99) starts off on the outside shoulder of left guard Jordan Simmons, then moves to the outside shoulder of left tackle Duane Brown. Then, the delayed spin move, and Williams winds up with Wilson as the prize. You don’t ordinarily see 300-pound guys doing stuff like this.
In a more static set of fronts, Williams may have regressed to “just another guy” status. And the lack of scheme-transcendence is a primary reason to ding the enormity of the deal.