Leonard Williams trade grades: Giants unload DL for valuable picks, Seahawks improve talent up front

We have our first big mover of the 2023 NFL trade deadline, as the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks have agreed to a deal. The Giants are sending defensive lineman Leonard Williams to Seattle, according to CBS Sports Lead NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. The compensation heading to New York is a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.

After losing to the Jets on Sunday, the Giants are just 2-6 and likely out of the postseason picture a year after surprisingly making the playoffs (and winning a first-round game) in the first year of the Brian Daboll era. Williams is in the final season of the three-year, $63 million contract he signed with the Giants back in March of 2021. He has an $18 million base salary that will come with him to Seattle unless the Giants agree to pay a portion of it as part of the deal.

So far this season, Williams has 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits, and one tackle for loss in eight games. Since notching a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2020, Williams has 10.5 sacks in two-and-a-half seasons. He joins a Seahawks defensive line that added Dre’Mont Jones this offseason but needed an infusion of talent up front after losing Uchenna Nwosu to injured reserve. Williams doesn’t have nearly as much pass-rush juice but he can still provide some quality snaps up front.

Seahawks trade grade: B-

Seattle receives: Leonard Williams

Seattle certainly needed to bring in somebody to help the defensive line, and particularly the pass rush. Williams doesn’t have many sacks, but he is coming off his best pressure performance of the season (7) against the Jets and he is a very good athlete on the interior. Still, the Seahawks paid a high price for what is almost certainly a rental. Even with their 5-2 record, the need for talent up front, and the Giants eating a good portion of the contract, Seattle probably gave up more than was necessary for a player of Williams’ caliber.

Giants trade grade: A

New York is picking up most of the $10 million remaining on Williams’ contract for this season, per NFL Media, but … the Giants were going to pay out that money anyway. Williams’ contract voids at the end of the year and it was highly unlikely that he would remain in New York. That the Giants were able to get second- and fifth-round picks in exchange for his services is a nice bit of business. That’s especially true because they have so many holes on their roster.