Jets, Quinnen Williams agree to 4-year, $96 million deal, source says

The Jets crossed a huge item off their pre-training camp to-do list by agreeing to terms on a new contract with star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams.

The Jets announced the agreement on Thursday. Williams will sign for four years and $96 million, with $66 million guaranteed.

Last season, Williams, 25, widely was regarded as the Jets’ best player and is among the top young interior defensive linemen in the NFL. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Alabama and has 27 ½ career sacks, 12 of them last season alone.

With the new deal, Williams becomes the first Jets first-rounder to re-sign for a second contract with the team since Muhammad Wilkerson, who was drafted in 2011 and re-signed in 2016. 

Williams said in January he wanted a new contract, and he followed through on his intention to skip voluntary offseason workouts if he did not get one.

“Everybody knows I’m a team guy; everybody knows I believe in team,” the 6-3, 300-pound Williams said in January. “But I do want to get a contract done before the offseason program. I do feel like I deserve to get a contract done before the offseason program just because I did everything right on the field and did everything right off the field.

“Just having the organization behind me just like I’m behind them just shows that they really support me.”

He added, “To see where this culture is going, to see where we’re going as a defense, as a whole, I want to be a big part of that culture change. I want to be a big part of the New York Sack Exchange 2.0-type thing. That’s a big thing that means a lot to me.”

His contract is the latest big deal this offseason for NFL defensive tackles, including the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence, who received a four-year, $90 million contract, with $60 million guaranteed. The total value of the contract is the highest among all interior defensive linemen in the NFL, according to NFL.com, and his average salary per year of $24 million is second only among all defensive linemen to Rams star Aaron Donald.

Before the 2022 season, the Jets picked up Williams’ fifth-year option, acknowledging the obvious — that he was a keeper. Now he is more so than ever. Jets general manager Joe Douglas said after last season that Williams “was a big part of our success this year."

“We all love Quinnen,” Douglas said. “Quinnen’s 25. He’s had a fantastic season. Still think there’s a lot of upside for him. We want Quinnen here.”

Douglas said in February at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis that he had “several good discussions” with Williams’ agent Nicole Lynn on a new contract.

“We feel really good about where we’re at,” Douglas said. “We feel good that this process is going to play out in the right way.”

Earlier this offseason, the Jets re-signed Quinnen’s brother Quincy, a linebacker, to a three-year, $18 million contract. 

Keeping him was essential to coach Robert Saleh’s defense. Williams and the rest of the Jets will report to camp next week, with excitement for the coming season elevated by the addition of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But a contract spat with Williams would have been a bad way to start.

While it was not the main impetus to get Williams’ deal done, it has the side benefit of not becoming an issue during HBO’s coverage of the Jets on its “Hard Knocks” series on training camp.

With Al Iannazzone

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.