The New York Jets have been busy adding to their offensive line this offseason.
Each addition was by way of free agency and nothing coming via trade. Well, so far at least. With their offensive line looking much better and deeper much, it still was one of the worst in the league there last season, especially at left tackle.
The Jets signed George Fant, who was a spot starter, but mostly a backup for the Seahawks. While it was an improvement, there’s another left tackle that could be available via trade: perennial Pro-Bowl left tackle Trent Williams and, because of that, acquire a true No. 1 wide receiver via the draft.
Sam Darnold will then not have to worry about his blindside blocking, and have a No. 1 target to boot. As a result, Jamison Crowder, and Breshad Perriman will be plus No. 2 and 3 receivers. Not to mention that if they did all of that, LeVeon Bell may be able to return to his consistently great form from his Steelers days.
But what will it take to acquire him?
The Redskins’ left tackle has not played since 2018 due to a cancerous mass that required surgery, followed by contract holdouts. All of the antics that stemmed from that have boiled down to yesterday’s events:
A statement from Trent Williams’ agent Vincent Taylor to ESPN: pic.twitter.com/jU04QMpegE
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 24, 2020
Well, now let us talk about the trade.
You are probably thinking, why not wait for him to get released? It’s very simple. With a personality like Williams, you can’t risk him not wanting to sign with you when he has a choice.
If he were to get traded and refuse an extension, he would be forced to play 2020 as the league wouldn’t allow for a trade to go down for another holdout. The Jets, therefore, have to trade for him and then lock him up.
There would be a lot of appeals for him to sign on with New York. For starters, it’s New York. That alone is a great draw for elite talent.
On top of that, he will have a great quarterback that he is protecting in Sam Darnold, the defense is pretty good, and the offensive line is balanced out.
The issue is the price Williams is asking for. He has requested $20 million per year, which is a lot to ask for an offensive lineman whose last down of football game in Dec. 2018. Not to mention the fact he’s 32 years old.
His contract has one more year left at $14.85 million: Would it be a slight overpay to go one a three-year, $55 million deal? Yes, it would be a little high with the deal at $17 million a year and a $4 million in bonuses.
For the overpay of it being the Jets, is it radical? Not at all.
The only other hurdle is a deal with the Redskins. They have to understand that whatever they get, they get with a sticky situation like this. A potential deal could be multiple seconds, as well as a future fourth, but under the stipulation that he signs an extension.
