Does Leonard Williams deserve all that money?

Dating back to the day football became a professional sport players were vying to be the best at their position to achieve the highest pay their owners saw fit to give them. Fast forward to 2021 and nothing had changed except the perception of players and the context of certain positions. However one thing that will never change is an elite player's leverage in contract negotiations. You see, there is no way to force a player to play, and there is nothing stopping any player from sitting out in lieu of signing a franchise tag, or extension. Shoot for that matter at any given time they could pull a Carson Palmer and threaten to retire rather than continue. So it's only naturally that each free agent who is considered elite tries to push their contract into consideration as the highest paid player at their position. It's actually an expected practice with players realizing it's up to them to force an owner's hand to increase the pay scale for their position group. Which brings me to the latest player to achieve the title of highest paid defensive end. 

The player we are talking about is Leonard Williams. When you look at Williams as a player it comes as no surprise to me that he has reached this status in his career. After being drafted 6th overall in 2015 by the Jets. At the time the Jets fielded one of the most intimidating starting 3 linemen on a 3-4 front in the league with Damon "Snacks" Harrison, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Sheldon Richardson. Despite that they opted to draft Leonard Williams who they believed would be a transcendent player as a 3-4 end. However just 4 seasons later the Jets punted on this plan trading Williams to it interstate rival the Giants. At this point the Giants gave up a 2020 3rd round pick, and a 2021 5th round pick. Solid value for a guy drafted 4 years prior who had yet to consistently dominate as they had expected. Williams had racked up 207 tackles, 17 sacks, 3 tipped passes, 1 interception, and 2 forced fumbles. At the time many people were questioning the trade from both angles. Why give up on a guy headed into his 5th season who had performed well enough so far, and why would the Giants acquire a player such as that for such a high return. However it didn't take long for Williams to showcase the ability that prompted two teams to invest heavily in his services. In 2019 he had a year that had most believing the Giants had made a mistake after the mammoth end produced just 42 tackles, .5 sacks, and 3 tipped passes. However it was his 2020 season that he showed he could be dominant in the role he is asked to play. His second year with the Giants and first under Patrick Graham as his coordinator, he thrived in this system putting up 50 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 15.5 tackles for a loss, 1 tipped pass, and 1 fumble recovery. He led the team in sacks with the next closest players producing 4. His coming out party couldn't have come at a better time after he played the 2020 season on the franchise tag. Due to this timing Williams was able to cash in on a 3 year deal worth $63 million total or an average of $21 million per season, with $45 million fully guaranteed. Making him the highest paid in average yearly salary at the defensive end position. 

So now the question becomes how does Williams stack up against the other elite players at his position. Williams ranked 5th in sacks behind players like Myles Garrett, Hassaan Reddick, Zadarius Smith, Aaron Donald, Trey Hendrickson, and Tj Watt. Aaron Donald is considered the best defensive end/defensive tackle player in the league. Last year he produced 44 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 1 recovery. Honestly Williams if he can keep his production at the level he achieved in 2020 showed he can be thrown in the mix for top 3 in 3 technique defensive ends in the league. His production has been fairly inconsistent so far, but it seems to me Patrick Graham knows how to use Williams in a manner that will allow him to play in the opposing backfield more than he has in the past. I truly believe if Graham had not been hired this contract looks like a terrible move and Williams would be way overpaid. However with Graham in the mix, the Giants organization seem to have a solid scheme fit for their best defensive player which will only allow them to help aid his production by beginning to find the prototypical pieces for the positions around him. 

Williams is simply cut from a different cloth, no lineman has been quite like him before. He is a similar player to Aaron Donald albeit slightly less athletic, but provides better size than Donald at 6'5 302 lbs, compared to Donald's 6'1 284 lbs, he plays a similar role to that of Calais Campbell, Gerald McCoy, or Geno Atkins. Williams put up respectable combine numbers when in comparison with these guys: 

Williams:

40 yard dash: 4.97

Mph in 40: 16.5

20 yd split: 2.88

10 yd split: 1.73

Bench press: n/a 

Wonderlic: 22

Vertical Leap: 29.5 inches

20 yard shuttle: 4.53

Three Cone: 7.59

Donald:

40 yard dash: 4.68 

Mph in 40: 17.5 

20 yd split: 2.73

10 yd split: 1.63

Bench press: 35 reps

Wonderlic: n/a

Vertical Leap: 32 inches

20 yard shuttle: 4.39

Three Cone: 7.11 

Campbell 6'7 290 lbs:

40 yard dash: 5.11

Mph in 40: 16 

20 yd split: 2.93

10 yd split: 1.74 

Bench press: 16

Wonderlic: n/a

Vertical Leap: 29.5 inches

20 yard shuttle: 4.69

Three Cone: 7.45

Atkins 6'1 293 lbs:

40 yard dash: 4.75 

Mph in 40: 17

20 yd split: 2.64

10 yd split: 1.68

Bench press: 34

Wonderlic: n/a

Vertical Leap: 33 inches

20 yard shuttle: 4.43

Three Cone: 7.33

McCoy 6'4 295 lbs:

40 yard dash: 5.04 

Mph in 40: 16

20 yd split: 2.85

10 yd split: 1.68

Bench press: 23

Wonderlic: n/a

Vertical Leap: 30.5 inches

20 yard shuttle: 4.48 

Three Cone: 7.32 

So you can see as I mentioned the smaller Donald, and Atkins has quite a bit more athleticism than Williams, but he provides a more explosive athletic profile than players of a similar body type, which I believe will help him take on double teams, that he will likely see often despite being used as a 3 technique. The most beneficial move the Giants can make this offseason is drafting him a running mate at the opposite defensive end position. Someone like Gregory Rousseau who has the frame at 6'7 270 lbs to pack on another 10-20 lbs and play 3-4 end no problem which would draw more attention away from Williams. 

Regardless Leonard Williams is the kind of scheme versatile player who can justify a contract such as this even if there are coaching changes at some point during his 3 year deal. He can play tackle in a 4-3, or end in a 3-4. He has the required size, strength, and athleticism to play second fiddle to Donald for his entire career.