Two teams have whiffed on Leonard Williams. The Jets grabbed the defensive lineman with sixth pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, watched him largely underperform until 2019, and then shipped him down MetLife Stadium, to the Giants, for two draft picks. Few fans or pundits understood why the Giants wasted picks on a player who clearly didn't reach his potential. But unlike the Gang Green, who cut their losses with Williams, Big Blue wants to sign him to an extension or perhaps slap the franchise tag on him.
This for a player whose best year was in 2016 - the only which ended with a Pro Bowl - and who hasn't posted more than five sacks in a season since. In eight games with the G-Men (including five starts), Williams made 13 solo tackles and notched half a sack. He had zero sacks in seven games with Jets before they dealt him. Williams has two desireable traits - he's durable and stuffs the run pretty well.
If we agree that the top job of an NFL team is to pick top players, then the only thing worse than getting the wrong players is to keep them around. Giants GM Dave Gettleman says that he will "get killed" if he doesn't reach a long-term deal with Williams. Not sure who his symbolic assassins would be - you don't hear Giants fans clamoring for Williams to finish his career here - but an even worse move would be to double-down on Williams with a franchise tag.
If Williams, 25, is branded a defensive end, he would command $17.9 million with the franchise tag. If he's labeled a tackle, then his franchise number would dip to $16.2 million. The Giants have until March 16 (extended deadline) to tag Williams, with NFL free agency looming on Monday. All parties concede that the Giants and Williams are nowhere near a long-term deal, so it seems it's franchise or bust, overpay for a decent player or watch another team overpay him.
Gettleman, like other GMs, NFL head coaches, and personnel people, shares impulses with the rest of us. We all want to think we make the right choices, at home or work, and will sometimes bend uncomfortably to defend them, and to mask our mistakes. NFL teams routinely waste top-ten picks on underwhelming players and then re-sign them under the guise of patience and upside. If they show the player enough love or loyalty they will be repaid in performance, attitude, and gratitude. (The Chicago Bears, for instance, seem to be strolling down that thorny road with quarterback Mitch Trubisky.) It's the kind of gaffe that gobbles up cap space, loses football games, and gets people fired.
If the Giants bang out a deal with Williams over the next few days, they will surrender a fourth-round pick in 2021 to the Jets, to go with the third-round pick in the 2020 draft. If they tag Williams it will turn into a fourth-round pick in 2021. Some wonder if Williams would refuse the franchise tender, but that's almost impossible to imagine.
Williams is surely good enough to play in the NFL. But the sixth pick in the NFL Draft should dominate, especially someone who ducked the injury bug, as Williams has over his five years in the league. If the Giants can get away with paying Williams $8 million a year over the next four seasons, with the salary cap swelling annually - the Giants have about $74 million in cap space - then it's hardly a disaster. But the former Jet will likely demand franchise player cash despite his declining cachet.
Gettleman thinks the disaster comes with letting Leonard Williams walk. The real disaster comes with paying a player double what he's worth. The Giants GM should ignore his blinding pride over a player for whom he overpaid once. Saving your job sounds better than saving face.
Twitter: @JasonKeidel
