Quinnen Williams had 55 tackles, 12 for loss, and a team high 12 sacks for the Jets this season, his fourth in the NFL, and he saw 2022 as the next step in his evolution towards being an All-Pro.
“I think it was a cool year full of excitement and fun, and it got me to where I want to be in my career in general, taking the next steps to the player I want to become,” Williams said Monday as the Jets spoke for the final time heading into the offseason. “The next step is learning from my mistakes, learning how I can get the extra step or burst to make more plays and become elite.”
He will play next season on his fifth-year option that will pay him $9.5 million dollars as of now – but after his ascension this season, that’s something Williams wants to change before the team gets too far down the road.
In short, he feels it’s time to get paid, and stick around long-term.
“Everybody knows I’m a team guy. Everybody knows that I believe in the team and want to put the team first and different things like that, but I do want to get a contract done before the offseason program,” Williams said. “I feel like I deserve to get a contract done before the offseason program just because I did everything right on the field, everything right off the field, and just having the organization behind me just like I’m behind them to show that they really support me and different things like that is an amazing thing for me.”
Williams was named to his first career Pro Bowl this year, and the No. 3 overall pick in 2019 feels he’s got more to come – but he’s already somewhere, he thinks, that deserves more on the contract side.
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“I just want to be compensated for what I am,” Williams said. “It’s not really how much money I make, or don’t make, because my agent will handle all that.”
The 22-year-old also said he’d skip voluntary portions of the offseason program if something doesn’t get done, which is something he and his agent have pre-planned, and “we’ll have to see” if he’ll skip mandatory OTAs if it gets that far.
“It’s just a timetable my agent and I came up with. We work hard every day to make sure we have everything in place,” he said. ““I’ve done everything on the field and off the field that I can do, and I love this organization,” Williams said. “I’ve been here four years, be through the ups and downs, and I believe in Coach Saleh and what Joe [Douglas] has going on. This defense is going to a new level from last year to top five this year. I definitely want to be a part of that for years to come.”
Williams has been steadily improving over his four years in the league, 2022 of course his best, and he joked that seeing how far he’s come makes him feel like an old man at 25.
“I joke with people all the time that I feel like I’m getting old,” Williams smiled. “How far I’ve come in my rookie year, from 2.5 sacks as a rookie to 12 this year…it’s a big thing. The guys next to me, the line coaches, Coach Saleh’s scheme, have all helped me develop. This is a team sport, and all you can do is do your job the best you can to help the team get to the next level. That’s what I’m focused on, the small things I did wrong, to help me become a better player and leader next year.”
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He’s hoping that even though the Jets haven’t had a great history of keeping their top picks, he’ll be here at 26, 27, and a long time beyond.
“I definitely have faith in the organization. I saw the stat that we haven’t resigned a first-round pick in a long time, but I see what this coaching staff is doing, and where we’re going as a defense, and I want to be a part of it. I want to be a big part of a New York Sack Exchange 2.0 type of thing, that’s something that means a lot to me.”
So, too, do Saleh, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, and defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton.
“They’ve helped me tremendously,” Williams said. “Coach Saleh’s scheme and the techniques he had are great, and coach Ulbrich has just given me small things from different guys he coached and played with. And having a great line coach in Coach Whitecotton, these guys have helped me develop tremendously and given me confidence to take my game to the next level.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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