Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams wants to get paid following his 12-sack season and being named All-Pro. He has watched other top defensive tackles get their money this offseason, namely Washington’s Daron Payne, Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons and the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence.
Those players saw contracts that averaged between $23 million and $24 million per year. Williams has a case to be paid more than those three and according to Fox Sports’ Henry McKenna, that’s exactly what Williams is looking for.
Williams could make the case for $25 million per year (just a bit more than Titans DT Jeffery Simmons) to $30 million (just less than Rams DT Aaron Donald). A league source confirmed that’s where Williams wants to land. But given the Jets’ cap situation, Williams will likely land at $25 million in average annual value — if he sticks with the team.
Williams does want to stick with the Jets. “He loves the Jets. He just wants to get paid. Hopefully it doesn’t get messy,” McKenna wrote, citing a league source.
Williams recently updated his Twitter profile, changing his bio to “Defensive Tackle for ……………….” and changing his banner photo on Twitter to a picture from his Alabama days. Williams presumably feels put on the back burner this offseason following the Jets’ pursuit of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Jets have been making salary cap moves to create room, the most recent being restructuring Carl Lawson’s contract to save about $13 million in cap space this year.
Of course, they eventually have to redo Rodgers’ contract. While he currently is only counting $1.215 million against the cap this year, that probably won’t stick because he is currently counting over $107 million against the cap next year, per Over the Cap. Part of that was New York pushing the majority of Rodgers’ contract into 2024. They can also push money into 2025 as well if they have to or if they are able to, depending on what Rodgers decides to do next year.
For now, the Jets have about $20 million in cap space after factoring in Lawson’s restructure. The Jets can also use void years if they need to.
As McKenna said, hopefully this doesn’t get messy for Williams and the Jets. It’s still only May. There’s time yet to figure this all out. For now, Williams is staying away and we don’t know when he’ll be back.
