The longer the Jets take to lock up their star defensive tackle, the larger the eventual contract will end up being.
Following Jeffery Simmons’ four-year extension worth over $23.5 annually with the Titans, the average price for top defensive tackles has only gotten bigger. That makes life difficult for the New York Jets.
New York has been patient with extension talks with defensive tackle stalwart Quinnen Williams over the last few months. Williams is entering the final season of his rookie contract and will make a base salary of over $9 million. The former third overall selection out of Alabama is coming off a career season with Gang Green totaling over 12 sacks and being awarded a First-Team All-Pro nomination.
At 26 years old, Williams is due for a pretty hefty extension worth well over $20 million a year. Simmons is a year younger than the Jets’ top defender but had five fewer sacks than Williams last season and finished with a Second-Team All-Pro nomination.
In short, the price for Williams has increased dramatically over the last few months. Simmons joins a group including Daron Payne and Javon Hargrave to receive per-year contracts over $21 million. Other defensive tackles like Dexter Lawrence, Ed Oliver, and Chris Jones are all eligible for extensions as well during this offseason.
During the end-of-year press conference, Williams announced that he would sit out of voluntary workouts with the Jets as long as a contract had not been agreed upon. At the owners’ meeting in Arizona last week, general manager Joe Douglas announced that negotiations were “in a good place” according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.
The longer the Jets wait to get their top defensive tackle solidified with an extension though, the larger that contract is going to end up being. And Jeffery Simmons recently signed extension certainly doesn’t help either.
