Tag: Leonard Williams

Giants’ Leonard Williams: Playing on franchise tag an ‘opportunity’

New York Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams says playing on the franchise tag in 2020 is a good “opportunity.”

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams admits his offseason goal was to come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension with the New York Giants, but won’t let their collective failures stand in his way this year.

In fact, Williams, who harbors no ill-will towards general manager Dave Gettleman or the team, views playing out the 2020 season on the franchise tag as an “opportunity.”

“I think it’s always a player’s interest to get a long-term deal, but that’s something that will work itself out between my agents and the organization and I’m just happy to be here and play with this team again,” Williams told reporters during a Zoom conference on Friday.

“I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing. I kinda knew the situation that I was coming off of last year and I think it’s actually a good opportunity. I’m looking at it as an opportunity. I’m not looking at it as something that’s bad, I’m looking at it as an opportunity.”

Williams has faced heavy criticism since coming over to the Giants from the New York Jets in a trade late last season, but insists he tunes it all out.

In the same breath, Williams says he will play with a chip on his shoulder this year.

“I don’t let too much outside noise get to me. I kinda just try to work hard and keep the blinders on and keep working and doing what I can do,” Williams said.

“I wouldn’t say I have something to prove necessarily. I think the coaches know and my teammates know what I bring to the table or I wouldn’t be here. I definitely still feel like I’m playing with a chip on my shoulder at the same time. I’m ready to go out here and play the best that I can.”

Williams, who will earn $16.126 million playing on the franchise tag this season, was placed on the non-football injury list with a hamstring issue to start training camp, and while he wouldn’t discuss his injury, but promised he has a lot left in the tank.

“I’m definitely still a young player in this league. I feel like I still have a lot in the tank. And I still feel like like I have a lot of years left in my to play in this league,” Williams said.

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Giants designate Leonard Williams with non-football injury, waive 8 players

Leonard Williams was designated with a non-football injury.

The New York Giants made a slew of  moves on Sunday which enabled the team to trim its roster down to 80 players ahead of the start of padded practices on August 17.

The Giants announced that not only did they cut eight players, but also placed Leonard Williams on the non-football injury list.

According to Art Stapleton, it looks like a hamstring issue found during Williams’ physical is the cause of his being placed on the NFI list.

The eight players who were cut are as follows: running back Jon Hilliman, linebacker Chris Peace, safety Rashaan Gaulden, cornerback Shakial Taylor, quarterback Case Cookus, fullback George Aston, linebacker Oluwole Betiku, Jr. and defensive end Dana Levine.

New York also saw its second player opt out of the 2020 season, as wide receiver and kick returner Da’Mari Scott has informed the team of his decision. Of course, left tackle Nate Solder was the first.

2020 Giants training camp preview: Defensive line

The New York Giants don’t have many sound units entering the 2020 season, but their defensive line appears to be one.

The New York Giants embark on their 2020 training camp this week with a boatload of challenges in front of them. They have a brand new coaching staff and a bevy of new players that all need to get acclimated fast.

With no preseason games to play and opportunities in practice limited because of the COVID-19 restrictions, the Giants are behind the eight ball this summer.

One unit that is fairly solid is the defensive line. The Giants will bring eight linemen to camp and likely keep six. It still has not been determined what the base defense will be, but it’s likely to be a 3-4 based on the personnel on the roster.

Here’s quick rundown of the group which will be coached this year by Sean Spencer (aka “Coach Chaos”), who is coming over from Penn State.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Leonard Williams

It seems like Williams has been in the NFL forever. The fact is, he just turned 26. Yes, he’s underachieved at times and is way overpaid, but after he came over from the Jets in that ill-advised trade last October, the Giants’ line played fairly well.

If Williams is going to play end however, he’s got to get the quarterback more than once per season. No matter what he does, anything short of a Pro Bowl-caliber performance this year will likely end his tenure with the Giants as he’ll be headed for free agency.

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Browns avoid big price tag for safety Jamal Adams

Browns avoid big price tag for safety Jamal Adams

On Saturday, July 25, 2020, the New York Jets traded safety, Jamal Adams, to the Seattle Seahawks.

This is a blockbuster deal for the New York Jets. But how do the Jets offloading the malcontent Adams in this deal measure up to other recent defensive player blockbuster deals?

Other Recent Defensive Blockbuster Trades

Deal: San Francisco 49ers traded DeForest Buckner (DL) to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2020 first-round pick.

Deal: Jacksonville Jaguars traded Jalen Ramsey (DB) to the Los Angeles Rams for 2020 first-round, 2021 first-round, 2021 fourth-round draft picks.

Deal: Miami Dolphins traded Minkah Fitzpatrick (S), 2020 fourth-round, 2021 sixth-round draft picks to the Pittsburgh Steelers for 2020 first-round, 2020 fifth-round, 2021 sixth-round round picks

Deal: Houston Texans traded Jadeveon Clowney (DE) to the Seattle Seahawks for Barkeveous Mingo, Jake Martin, and a 2020 third-round draft pick.

Final Thoughts

Adams is entering the fourth year of his contract, can have his fifth-year option picked up, and is set for free agency in 2022. Unfortunately, Adams also wants an extension and to be paid as one of the top defenders in the NFL. This could prove tricky with the potential of the salary cap dipping almost $25 million in 2021.

For the Browns, they missed out on one of the premier defenders in the NFL. Adams could have provided an invaluable running mate with Grant Delpit and given Joe Woods another chess piece in his secondary.

There are two questions we should ask ourselves when evaluating this trade:

1. Would I be comfortable with the Browns trading this much for Jamal Adams?

2. Could this front office do more with the draft capital traded and the amount of cap space needed to placate Adams?

For me, I would not have been comfortable with trading away all of those pieces & I feel this front office can be more impactful with those assets.

How 2021 salary cap adjustment will impact Giants

The New York Giants will have to answer several difficult questions in 2021 as a result of changes to the salary cap due to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is going to have a major impact on the revenue juggernaut the NFL has become. The salary cap, which has been increasing by an average of $10 million per year the past decade or so, is going to take a major hit due to the fact that no fans are likely to be in attendance for games this season.

“The NFL salary cap is close to being set for 2021 and teams will certainly have plenty of maneuvering to figure out,” writes CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr.

“Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports is reporting the 2021 NFL salary cap floor will be set at a minimum of $175 million (raised from $165 million) via a league proposal to the NFLPA. This is a huge hit to the expected 2021 salary cap prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was estimated at $210 million. ”

What does that mean for the New York Giants? The same as it does for all teams. Veterans with huge cap hits on the back-end of their contracts will be scrutinized even further. Plus, young stars seeking long-term deals will be affected as there will be less money to throw around.

The Giants’ 2021 cap number is already high. Based on a cap ceiling of $175 million, they are only about $11 million under. They have over $165 million in commitments.

One thing is for certain, tackle Nate Solder, on the books for $20.5 million next year, will almost certainly be gone. The Giants will save $14 million by releasing him.

Another vet that could feel the pinch in wide receiver Golden Tate, whose 2021 cap hit is $11 million. They can save $6 million should they part ways with him. Guard Kevin Zeitler’s cap figure is $14.5 million and can save $12 million by cutting him, but that is unlikely to happen as Zeitler will be needed.

The Leonard Williams saga could end abruptly should he fail to impress this season, but it surely will end should he opt for free agency. No way the Giants sign him long-term if he doesn’t play at a Pro Bowl level this year. The other player who is likely to be affected is defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson, who is in the final year of his rookie deal this year.

Running back Saquon Barkley will get his fifth-year option picked up in 2021, but he may have to wait for his long-term, lotto-like deal because the Giants won’t likely be able to juggle that until 2022.

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7 Giants storylines to watch in 2020

As the New York Giants begin preparation for the 2020 season, here are seven storylines worthy keeping a close eye on.

As NFL training camps get ready to open next week, there are still a load of questions surrounding how the league plans on pulling this season off amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That, unfortunately, will be a day-to-day process as the virus will basically dictate how things go. Considering that all things go well and the season progresses as planned, here’s looking at seven non-COVID-related storylines to keep an eye on.

Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Judge in first season as head coach

The restrictions put in place due to the virus wiped out any advantage Judge was afforded as a first-year head coach. Not only has he not met his team yet, he’s not been able to get an up close and personal assessment of the talent on the roster.

Judge appears to be a guy in control however, and it is believed that he will come right in and take charge. He has a veteran staff around him who will provide extremely valuable counsel to Bill Belichick’s former right hand man.

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PFF ranks Giants’ defensive line among league’s worst

PFF recently ranked the New York Giants’ defensive line among the league’s worst, citing their lack of a pass rush as the reason.

The New York Giants have a ton of young talent along their defensive line, highlighted by future superstar Dexter Lawrence, dominant run-stuffer Dalvin Tomlinson, do-it-all man B.J. Hill and the controversial but impactful Leonard Williams.

What they don’t have is one stand-out elite pass rusher who can take over games in the way Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul have for the team in the past.

Just how detrimental is that to the unit as a whole? If you were to ask those at Pro Football Focus, they’d tell you is damning.

PFF recently ranked all 32 NFL defensive lines and did not treat the Giants with kid gloves. In fact, they ranked Big Blue’s line among the NFL’s very worst.

26. NEW YORK GIANTS

The policy in New York under general manager Dave Gettleman has been getting bigger, tougher and meaner against the run on the defensive line.

Dexter Lawrence was their first-round pick a year ago, and Leonard Williams was acquired to add serious weight inside. Add Dalvin Tomlinson and B.J. Hill to the mix, and this team is awash with powerful run-stoppers. All four players earned a PFF run-defense grade above 70.0 last season, but none was a difference-maker as a pass-rusher.

That’s the positive. Now for the negative.

The Giants are short on interior players who can truly pressure the passer and instead will rely on just squeezing the pocket. And that strategy that could work if they had plus play on the edge — the problem is that they don’t have that proven commodity yet.

. . .

The Giants have a group of solid options but don’t have much in the way of proven players who can get after the quarterback in a league that has never been more pass-happy.

The Giants are expected to have linebacker Markus Golden back in 2020, which would help the pass rush from the second level, but that did little to sway PFF’s evaluations.

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Giants nearly bottom out in ESPN’s future power rankings: ‘Very bad’

ESPN shares a very pessimistic view on the New York Giants’ future, projecting to be among the league’s worst over the next three years.

The New York Giants appear to be on the right track in their rebuild, and seem to be in good hands with quarterback Daniel Jones, running back Saquon Barkley and a new coaching staff led by Joe Judge.

Yes, there are still some major questions on the defensive side of the ball, but the roster is filled with quality young talent, all of whom have untapped potential and a tremendous upside.

There are more reasons to be optimistic about the Giants’ future right now than at any point dating back to 2012. But despite that, ESPN has the Giants nearly bottoming out in their “future power rankings,” which projects how things will unfold over the next three years.

In ESPN’s view, the Giants are in a “very bad” state.

Why they’re here: The pieces are in place among the skill players for quarterback Daniel Jones to make a quantum leap in his second season as the starter, the first under new coach Joe Judge and coordinator Jason Garrett. The defense is the concern as all three levels are in need of a talent boost. GM Dave Gettleman’s track record in New York has come under fire with moves like trading for Leonard Williams and subsequently franchise-tagging him; there’s a clamoring for major roster improvement with this 2020 squad.

Biggest worry: Time is running out for Gettleman. He has to have nailed the selection of Joe Judge as the HC, and he has to provide Jones and RB Saquon Barkley with an offensive line that is capable of helping them both reach their potential. If these two things don’t happen in 2020, Gettleman won’t be there in 2021.

There is some understandable uncertainty when it comes to Dave Gettleman’s future, not just from a success standpoint, but from an age and health standpoint. The good news for Gettleman is that he appears as spry and sharp as even, even if some can’t get a handle on his mannerisms and idioms (some of which even escape us).

But there are some reasons for optimism, which even ESPN can’t deny despite how low they are on the Giants and the team’s future.

Looking ahead: A year or two from now, the Giants could still be about three pieces away on defense. Hard to project how maligned corner DeAndre Baker pans out, so corner seems like a constant need. New York is still unspectacular at some defensive line and linebacker spots. Gettleman set out to fix the offensive line once and for all, and I do expect improvement there in 2020. The defense still feels like patchwork, with holes at multiple spots.

Top stat to know: Judge is a relative unknown, but here’s a point in his favor: The Patriots finished in the top 10 in regular-season special-teams efficiency in four of the five seasons he was special-teams coordinator in New England, and were top five in three of the five. Special teams is highly variant, so that kind of consistent success is noteworthy.

In case you were wondering, the only teams to rank lower on ESPN’s future power rankings are the Carolina Panthers (30), Chicago Bears (31) and Jacksonville Jaguars (32).

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Giants’ acquisition of Leonard Williams looks worse without long-term deal

The New York Giants failed to sign DL Leonard Williams to a long-term contract, and now they face suffering additional losses as a result.

The New York Giants’ trade for veteran defensive tackle Leonard Williams lat October has been met with a boatload of criticism and rightfully so. It was an uncharacteristic move for a losing team to trade for an impending free agent in-season, surrendering valuable draft capital for a player they could have pursued in free agency six months later.

The Williams move has not made the Giants a better team. Williams is a slightly above-average player who is commanding a major payday. Pro Bowl money, to be exact. Since the Giants have so much invested in him, they have to pay him to save face.

But there was a snag in the plan to get that done this spring, and the Giants were forced to slap the franchise tag on Williams at a one-year cost of $16.1 million. Williams is not a $16 million player. And now the Giants are in no better shape with Williams — he’s still an impending free agent heading into this season.

The Giants received $4 million in cash plus Williams before the trading deadline last year from the New York Jets in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick (No. 68 overall, which the Jets used to select Cal safety Ashtyn Davis) and a 2021 conditional fifth-round selection.

That fifth rounder will become a fourth rounder if the Giants sign Williams to a contract extension before the league new year in March, which they may have to if they want to keep him.

If they do not, the Jets still get that fifth-round pick and the Giants likely lose Williams to another tram in free agency. That wouldn’t be a total loss, however. The loss of Williams in free agency would be added to the Giants’ compensatory draft pick cancellation chart. If they don’t sign a player equal in status to Williams, they are likely to get that pick back from the league.

There is always the possibility that Williams shines and the Giants sign him prior to free agency next year and all this get resolved.

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Deadlines make deals: Franchise tag edition

What to watch for today as the deadline for reaching agreement with players on the franchise tag approaches.

Today, July 15th, is the deadline for NFL teams to reach an agreement on a long-term extension with players that the organizations placed franchise tags upon. If the parties fail to agree to new contracts by 4 p.m. ET, the players will play the 2020 NFL season on the one-year franchise tag.

As of this morning, there are 13 players facing this situation, including two (A.J. Green and Yannick Ngakoue) who have not even signed the franchise tag offer. Here is a look at all 13 situations with a prediction as to what happens by the deadline.

The players are listed in alphabetical order.

Shaquil Barrett, EDGE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

(Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Franchise Tag Salary: $15.828 million

Status: Last season was a true breakout campaign for the EDGE defender. An undrafted free agent out of Colorado State in the 2014 draft class, Barrett signed with the hometown Denver Broncos as a free agent. Over four seasons in Denver, he mustered a total of 15 sacks.

Then he found a new home in Tampa Bay, and last year was his true breakout season. He put a whopping 20 sacks on the board, along with 82 quarterback pressures, 18 quarterback hits and 44 QB hurries. He also added his first career interception, when he picked off Jared Goff back in Week 4.

Both sides want to reach a long-term deal, and from Barrett’s position you can understand why. The Buccaneers are the “hot team” in the NFL right now, with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski now in town. Furthermore, Barrett was part of a big defensive turnaround in Tampa Bay. What could complicate matters is the cap space issue. As of this moment the Buccaneers have just $4,873,799 available under the cap, although that factors in the franchise tag amount for Barrett. Surely Jason Licht can find a way to make the numbers work.

Prediction: Extension reached.

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