The Seattle Seahawks swung a deal to acquire defensive lineman Leonard Williams in a deadline trade with the New York Giants, sending a second-round draft pick and a fifth-rounder to the Giants in exchange for the veteran.
Former Seahawks cornerback and current NFL analyst Richard Sherman loves what Seattle did in landing Williams and thinks that he will make a major impact for the club this season.
Sherman went on to say that he is picking the Seahawks in their Thursday night matchup with the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 30 and reminded fellow Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless that they have a dinner bet on the game (Bayless is a Cowboys fan and has picked Dallas).
Many believe Seattle overpaid for Williams, and that may be true. However, the Seahawks are 5-2 and are sitting in first place in an NFC West division that includes the San Francisco 49ers, so you can understand why they were willing to pay a big price for a significant addition.
In eight games with the Giants this season, Williams logged 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
The 29-year-old, who played his collegiate football at USC, was originally selected by the New York Jets with the sixth overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Williams spent the first four-and-a-half years of his career with the Jets, making one trip to the Pro Bowl before being dealt to the Giants midway through the 2019 campaign.
The Bakersfield, Ca. native went on to have the most productive season of his career to date in his first full season with Big Blue, racking up 57 tackles and 11.5 sacks in 2020.
Since then, Williams’ production has waned, and with him getting set to hit free agency this offseason, the Giants—who are just 2-6—decided to move on from him.
We’ll see what type of effect Williams will have on a Seattle defense that ranks 16th in the NFL.
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