NFL Network: Seahawks, DT Leonard Williams agree to three-year, $90M extension

A key member of the defending Super Bowl champions is getting paid.

Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams has agreed to a three-year, $90 million extension, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Thursday, per sources. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the deal includes $56 million guaranteed.

The team has since officially announced extending Williams. 

Williams, 32, has spent the last two and a half seasons in Seattle, where he's found a refreshing, invigorating environment that helped him earn his first Pro Bowl since the 2016 season. With two straight Pro Bowl nods and a second-team All-Pro selection, Williams has proven this latest stop in his 11-year career is his best fit. Seattle responded accordingly, handing Williams a contract that places him in the top five in annual average value among all interior defensive linemen.

A product of USC, Williams began his career with the New York Jets as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 draft. He found success early, finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and landing his first Pro Bowl selection a year later, but eventually, the time came for the Jets to move Williams elsewhere. He only needed to change locker rooms at MetLife Stadium, heading to the Giants via trade.

In 2023, another trade sent Williams back to the west coast to Seattle, where he joined as a veteran member of a defense that would soon prove to be a sleeping giant. With 18 sacks and 126 tackles (25 for loss) logged over the last two seasons, Williams proved he still had plenty of juice, fetching a lucrative contract after helping the Seahawks' "Dark Side" defense shut down the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

As he noted in early August, Williams found a true home in Seattle, the city in which he rediscovered his love for football. With Thursday's agreement, Williams will happily spend the next four years there.

"There was a time in my career when I was playing on the East Coast, and we were just going year after year with losing seasons, dealing with new coaching staffs, new culture every two or three years," Williams told the Seahawks' official site. "I was also dealing with some injuries at the time. I was only like Year 8, and clearly had a lot left in the tank, but I was already like, 'Is this it for my career?' But obviously I kept pushing, I kept fighting, and eventually ended up here and turned it all around."