Rich CiminiESPN Staff Writer Jul 13, 2023 1:54pm ET4 minutes read
Martin: The Jets should take hard knocks
Kimberley A. Martin discusses why the Jets should be chosen to team up for HBO’s Hard Knocks this season.
FLORHAM PARK, NJ — The New York Jets have signed All-Pro defenseman Quinnen Williams with a four-year, $96 million contract extension that includes a $66 million guarantee, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday .
It’s the largest guarantee in franchise history, surpassing linebacker CJ Mosley’s $51 million as a free agent in 2019.
Williams, 25, who has one year left on his rookie contract, is now under contract through the 2027 season.
Overtime makes Williams the second-highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL by annual average. At $24 million per season, he surpasses the Tennessee Titans’ Jeffery Simmons ($23.5 million) and ranks second behind Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald ($31.7 million).
The Jets now have two of the highest-paid players in their respective positions, Williams and quarterback Aaron Rodgers ($50.3 million averaging), which they acquired in April in a deal with the Green Bay Packers.
Williams skipped the Jets’ voluntary training sessions while the two sides negotiated and more than once took to social media to express frustration when other top defensive tackles received big overtimes. He deleted the Jets from his Twitter bio and changed it to “Defensive tackle for…”. He added the Jets back to his bio on Thursday, just before news of his renewal broke.
This offseason, Simmons, Dexter Lawrence (New York Giants) and Daron Payne (Washington Commanders) all signed new contracts that ranged from $22.5 million to $23.5 million per year. Simmons, Lawrence and Williams were first-round picks in 2019.
The Jets re-signed Williams’ brother, linebacker Quincy Williams, to a three-year, $18 million deal this offseason.
According to a source, Jets officials remained publicly optimistic throughout the process and promised to see it through, even though the sides hadn’t spoken to each other for at least a month in April/May. On June 6, coach Robert Saleh said: “It will be done. He’ll be here for camp, he’ll be ready to go and when he is I’m sure he’ll be the same guy he was a year ago.”
The Jets defense, which ranked fourth last season in yards allowed and points, now has one of its pillars for the foreseeable future.
Aside from the money, the Williams deal is also significant because the Jets aren’t known for keeping their top picks. According to a study by ESPN Stats & Information, they are the only team that didn’t sign any of their first-round players to a second contract from 2012 to 2018. The last to receive an extension was defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson, who was selected in 2011.
This is the first time general manager Joe Douglas, who took over in 2019, has re-signed a Jets draft pick for a multi-year extension. Of the 55 draft picks from 2012 to 2018, only two received multi-year extensions — wide receiver Quincy Enunwa (6th-round pick in 2014) and guard Brian Winters (3rd-round pick in 2013). These extensions existed before Douglas.
After solid years in 2020 and 2021, Williams exploded in 2022 and finished the year with a team-high 12 sacks (third among inside-line men in the NFL). According to NextGen Stats, his pressure percentage (13.4%) was the highest among qualified interior organizers.
Williams reached his first Pro Bowl and was named the first All-Pro team. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich called it “one of the best defensive performances … I’ve ever seen — and I’ve been with some really, really good players.”
Ulbrich compared Williams to former San Francisco 49ers teammate Bryant Young, a four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February.
Williams was drafted third overall in 2019, Mike Maccagnan’s final draft as GM. The former Alabama All-American has 27.5 sacks in 57 games of his career.
“We all love Quinnen,” Douglas said at the end of the season. “He’s 25, he’s had a fantastic season. We still think there is a lot of potential for him. We want Quinnen here.”