Jets express confidence as Quinnen Williams contract dispute baffles others across NFL

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The deal is not yet done.

All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was not at the New York Jets facility for offseason training on Tuesday in the final week before the veterans disperse for summer.

And yet, the Jets are not publicly posturing as Williams' Twitter page continues to read “Defensive Tackle for ……………….”

Head coach Robert Saleh did not couch his belief in the oft-heard qualifiers that he hopes or wishes this deal will get done. He was assertive that it will.

“I speak for everyone and I probably speak for Quinnen in that we all want to get it done sooner rather than later,” Saleh said. “Again, I’ll let the business guys handle all that stuff. But it’s going to get done. He’ll be here for camp, ready to roll.

“And once he is, I’m sure he’ll be the same guy he was a year ago.”

Who was Williams a year ago?

The 2019 No. 3 overall pick earned All-Pro honors as he collected 12 sacks, 28 quarterback hits and 55 total tackles. Williams also deflected four passes, forced two fumbles and recovered one.

Traditional statistics routinely fall short of capturing an interior defensive lineman’s impact, but consider that Williams’ 12 sacks came in just 690 snaps compared to fellow 2019 first-round defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who earned Pro Bowl honors for his 7.5 sacks in 864 snaps.

Williams slotted fourth in Pro Football Focus’ interior defender rankings behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones, Lawrence and the Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald. He ranked seventh among defensive tackles in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric, registering a 15% success rate.

Teammates marvel at his impact, offensive guard Laken Tomlinson calling Williams “a force to be reckoned with” and “generational talent” who “keeps me young.” Five-time Pro Bowler C.J. Mosley marveled at Williams’ versatility between the run and pass game.

"Just his ability to get in the backfield," Mosley said. "As a linebacker, when you have defensive linemen like him who can get up the field, get vertical and also in the run game demand double teams or go blow up a (handoff) on a zone read, that just makes my job a lot easier.

“When it comes to coverage looking at the quarterback or the run game, I’m free running the route so just his presence on the field is key.”

Why haven’t the Jets already extended Williams?

The structure for a Williams deal, league sources say, should be straightforward.

“Honestly that should be the easiest deal to do this cycle,” one general manager told Yahoo Sports on condition of anonymity. “The market’s jumped. It’s a very clearly defined market. And honestly, dealing with (William’s agent) Nicole Lynn is the best. And I mean that in terms of, not that she’s a pushover, but as a GM there’s a handful of agents who it’s like, ‘OK — we can get to where it should be. These are the deals we should be talking about. Let’s figure out this is important to you, this is important to me, and you don’t have to do any fluffing or anything like that.

“It’s very refreshing.”

The general manager said Williams’ deal should be a four-year deal worth about $24.5 to $25 million a year on average. Recent extensions produced that estimate.

On May 4, the Giants awarded Lawrence a four-year extension worth $90 million including $60 million guaranteed. That $22.5 million average came in just below the Tennessee Titans' extension of yet another 2019 first-rounder in Jeffery Simmons, who collected $23.5 million per year on a four-year deal that included $66 million in guarantees after consecutive Pro Bowl seasons.

Most recently, the Buffalo Bills on Monday extended 2019 first-round defensive tackle Ed Oliver. Oliver earned less than his counterparts who have been more productive, his four-year deal worth $19 million per year including $45 million guaranteed.

That would be four deals tacked on to fifth-year options, each extension spanning four new years.

The general manager who spoke to Yahoo Sports said if the Jets want five years’ control, they should be prepared to pay closer to $27 million per year.

Williams has skipped OTA practices during the dispute, which are technically voluntary by the NFL-NFLPA labor agreement. Saleh canceled the team’s mandatory minicamp scheduled for next week, citing the early training camp report date preceding the Jets’ participation in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game this preseason.

In just over six weeks, the Jets will reconvene for training camp. Saleh is confident Williams will be there and the contract dispute will resolve.

Will Williams have missed anything by skipping spring practices?

“If you ask a coach, of course he is,” Saleh said. “But I think he’ll be fine.”