Seahawks Extend Leonard Williams for Three Years, $90 Million

The Seattle Seahawks agreed Thursday to a three-year, $90 million contract extension with defensive tackle Leonard Williams, tying down the anchor of a defensive line that helped carry the franchise to its second Super Bowl title last season. The deal, which includes $56 million in guaranteed money, was finalized between Thursday's practice and the team's departure for its preseason finale in Kansas City, according to the team's official announcement.

Williams, 32, had been entering the final season of the three-year, $64.5 million contract he signed with Seattle in 2024 and was on track to reach free agency in 2027. The new agreement instead runs through the 2029 season and, at roughly $30 million per year, ties him for fifth among interior defensive linemen in average annual salary, in the same tier as Tampa Bay's Vita Vea. ESPN reported the framework of the deal earlier Thursday, citing sources briefed on the negotiations, before the Seahawks confirmed it.

The move is a departure from how general manager John Schneider has generally approached second contracts for players past 30. Seattle's front office has favored churn on the roster's back half over long guarantees for aging veterans, and Schneider has said in the past that extensions for players in their thirties are the exception rather than the rule. Williams' durability, his standing in the locker room and his continued production, the team indicated, were enough to warrant setting that pattern aside.

The Numbers

Since arriving in Seattle in an October 2023 trade from the New York Giants, Williams has recorded 22.0 sacks, 34 tackles for loss and 61 quarterback hits across parts of three seasons. Last year he posted 7.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits in the regular season, then added a sack, a tackle for loss and three more quarterback hits over three playoff games as Seattle beat New England, 29-13, in Super Bowl LX. Those numbers earned him a second consecutive Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro nod, the first All-Pro recognition of his eleven-year career. NBC Sports first reported the $56 million guaranteed figure Thursday afternoon, and the Associated Press, citing a source familiar with the negotiations, confirmed the framework of the agreement within the hour.

How He Got Here

Williams was the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Southern California, taken by the New York Jets, and spent his first eight-plus NFL seasons bouncing between the Jets and the Giants without reaching a conference championship game or recording a playoff sack. He was regarded around the league as a talented but unfulfilled interior lineman, productive on losing teams but never part of a defense built to win in January. Seattle acquired him at the 2023 trade deadline for a package of draft picks, and he re-signed with the team the following spring rather than testing the open market. What followed was the most productive stretch of his career: a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown off Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2024, back-to-back Pro Bowl berths, and a Super Bowl ring in February, when the Seahawks beat New England for the franchise's second championship.

"I've had an up and down career," Williams said, according to comments the team relayed after the signing. "Since I've been here, I've been more grounded, more locked in with the team, more locked in with my life outside of football."

Reaction

Seattle coach Mike Macdonald, who inherited Williams when he took over the Seahawks in 2024, described him as central to everything the defense has built. "He's a foundational player to our club from when we got here," Macdonald said. "Obviously a tremendous, All-Pro caliber player, the type of person he is, an absolute A-plus person, teammate." Macdonald has credited Williams' presence at the line of scrimmage with drawing extra blockers that free up the rest of Seattle's pass rush, a dynamic the coaching staff considers difficult to replace.

"It feels amazing. I think this is my first time being extended while under contract with a team. It goes to show what type of organization we have here and how much respect and love and appreciation that I have here."

Williams, who is signed through what would be his sixteenth NFL season, said he expects to finish his career in Seattle. "Some of my best ball has been played here, some of my best relationships have been made here," he said. "I won a Super Bowl here."

Who Is Affected

The extension is the latest in a run of moves by Schneider's front office to keep the core of a championship roster together rather than let it be picked apart in free agency. The Seahawks have already re-signed cornerback Devon Witherspoon and wide receiver Rashid Shaheed to extensions this offseason, and locking up Williams signals the front office intends to build around its 2025 roster for as long as it stays competitive. It also pushes a significant cap commitment into 2027 and beyond, a bet that Williams' production will hold up as he moves into his mid-30s. Inside the building, teammates and coaches have pointed to Williams as a stabilizing presence on a defensive line that will otherwise see turnover; his continued presence frees the front office to address other needs, including depth behind him, without worrying about the position's most important piece.

What Happens Next

The timing put the announcement in an unusual spot on the football calendar. Williams and the Seahawks are set to close out the preseason Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs, part of a three-game exhibition slate that wraps up before final roster cuts. Seattle's title defense begins in earnest on September 9, when the Seahawks host the Patriots at Lumen Field in a Wednesday night rematch of Super Bowl LX to open the regular season, seven months after beating New England, 29-13, to win the Lombardi Trophy. Williams, now signed well beyond that opener, will be central to whatever Seattle's defense looks like as the Seahawks try to become the league's first repeat champion since the Chiefs won back-to-back titles in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.