Giants trading Leonard Williams to Seahawks after brutal Jets loss

The Giants lost for the fourth time in six games when they blew a lead and were overtaken by the Jets in overtime, 13-10, on Sunday. 

A day later, with the NFL trade deadline looming on Halloween, the teardown began.

The Giants sent defensive tackle Leonard Williams to the Seahawks in exchange for a 2024 second round draft pick and a 2025 fifth round pick, the Post confirmed. 

Williams, on the books for a base salary of $18 million, was in the final year of the three-year, $63 million deal general manager Joe Schoen inherited when he took over prior to the 2022 season.

Williams counted a massive $32.2 million on the current salary cap and jettisoning him would have saved the Giants $9 million on the cap, but The Post confirmed the Giants are absorbing most of the money in this transaction. 

Basically, they are purchasing two draft picks in exchange for Williams’ services. 

Receiving a second round pick for Williams can be seen as a win for Schoen.

 A popular presence in the locker room, Williams, 29, was overtaken in the defensive line room and on the field by Dexter Lawrence, a rising star who this Giants regime committed to with a four-year, $90 million contract extension, including $60 million in guaranteed money, that secures Lawrence through the 2027 season. 

This was likely to be the final season for Williams with the Giants, and with his production down and the team never attaining playoff contention, the move was made to send him out.

Williams in eight games had 21 total tackles, one tackle for loss, five quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks. 

He recently spoke of sacrificing on the field, as far as filling the role defensive coordinator Wink Martindale crafted for him, to allow Lawrence to shine as the most productive defensive lineman.

There could be more moves afoot from the Giants. 

Veteran cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is also in the final year of his contract and has been supplanted by rookie Deonte Banks as the No. 1 cornerback on the team. 

A more drastic move would be trading away safety Xavier McKinney, who is only 24 and a team captain, if the Giants are convinced they will not be interested in spending big money to re-sign him after the season.

Without Williams, the Giants have veteran interior lineman A’Shawn Robinson available to move into the starting lineup.

The Seahawks will rework Williams’ deal. 

They are also reworking their defensive line, signing Frank Clark last week.

Williams spent the first 4 1/2 years of his NFL career with the Jets as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. 

In late October, 2019, the Giants acquired Williams, sending a third and fourth-round pick to the Jets. 

So, the Giants did better with this return than what they initially gave up for Williams.