The New York Jets are widely considered sellers ahead of the NFL's Oct. 29 trade deadline, and according to SNY's Ralph Vacchiano, the players they're selling include a guy the team drafted sixth overall just four years ago.
Teams have reportedly been calling new Jets general manager Joe Douglas about the availability of defensive lineman Leonard Williams, New York's first-round pick in 2015, and Douglas has not turned them away, Vacchiano wrote Friday. That doesn't mean the Jets are actively shopping the 25-year-old starter, but it also doesn't mean they're averse to dealing him. The sense around the league, per Vacchiano, is that Douglas and the Jets "know time is running out" and are more open to trading Williams than in the past.
A coveted front-four presence coming out of USC, Williams hasn't missed a single game since coming to the NFL and emerged as a Pro Bowler in 2016, when he logged a career-best seven sacks. Since then, however, his production has dipped as he's absorbed more double teams and focused on the "dirty work," as Vacchiano put it, in the trenches. As an impending free agent on a team near the bottom of the AFC East, he's long been considered a likely trade chip, especially considering the Jets might also want to shed the remaining $8.35 million on his current contract.
Vacchiano reported Friday the general expectation around the NFL is that the Jets could receive at least a third-round draft pick in exchange for Williams, who could start as either a 3-4 defensive end or 4-3 defensive tackle. He's also not the only big name the team could be looking to move. The New York Daily News reported a day earlier that the Jets are after 2020 draft picks and have informed other teams that wide receiver Robby Anderson, another impending free agent, "can be had" in exchange for just that.
