Despite hiring Mike MacDonald, the former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, to be their new head coach, the Seattle Seahawks hadn’t made a defensive move on the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period of free agency on Monday.
Until now. Seattle is re-signing defensive end Leonard Williams on a three-year, $64.5 million deal with an average per year of $21.5 million, per NFL Media.
The Seahawks sent a 2024 second-round pick and a a 2025 fifth-round pick to the New York Giants in exchange for Pro Bowl defensive lineman Leonard Williams at the 2023 trade deadline. Seattle desperately needed more push up front, and Williams provided decent help. His 12.1% quarterback pressure rate ranked as the second-most on the team behind Boye Mafe’s 13.8% rate among those with at least 100 pass rush snaps.
Williams, who turns 30 on June 20, still has a few prime years left to work with. New head coach Mike MacDonald worked wonders with Justin Madubuike in Baltimore this past season — he totaled a career-high 13 sacks in his fourth season in 2023 after totaling just 8.5 in his first three years combined — and Williams, the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, is more talented.
Williams, a Pro Bowler in the 2016 season, could perhaps be MacDonald’s next great breakout pass rusher.
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Author: Garrett Podell
March 11, 2024 | 9:45 pm
