Jets Must Do Every Thing They Can to Keep Quinnen Williams

The New York Jets have a foundational piece in Quinnen Williams, and they need to do anything they can to keep him around for the building of this team.

Quincy Williams, the brother of Quinnen Williams, is unlikely to return in 2026. That exacerbates an already potentially tenuous situation with the older Williams.

Quinnen has been a part of the Jets losing, and he did comment on the “rebuild” on social media during the offseason. That was promptly taken down by Williams.

There’s an old cliche that money talks. In the NFL, from the team perspective, it’s about two things: cash and cap. From the player’s side, it’s about average annual value.

So, can the Jets get Williams to be in the fold for the long haul with the right amount of money?

Unfortunately for the Jets, even with an in-house player, it may take the “Jets tax” to do so, but I think it can be done.

Right now, Williams is going to be owed $46.15 million in base salary and $1.1 million in per-game roster bonuses over the next two seasons, and none of it is guaranteed. He has two void years left on his contract, which gives the Jets a framework for an extension (in terms of length).

So, let’s dive into how the Jets should go about a contract extension to entice him to stay.

First, you will convert the 2026-27 base salaries into a signing bonus and an option bonus, and all of the money (including the per-game roster bonuses), become fully guaranteed.

The second thing will be to add $26.17 million in new money guaranteed for 2028 (fully guaranteed at signing). The third thing would be to guarantee 2029-30 for injury.

Here’s the catch.

Most contracts have early triggers for guarantees one year out. For Quinnen Williams, the Jets would fully guarantee the 2029 salary in March of 2027 rather than March 2028. This would effectively guarantee the first four years of the contract.

Here’s how the numbers would look.

Total Value: 5 years, $113,724,000 ($22,744,800 APY)
New Money: 3 years, $83,170,000 (~$27,723,333 APY)
Total Effective New Guarantees: 2 Years, $54,170,000

Defensive tackle is a position with a longer shelf life than many others in the NFL, and it would be prudent for the Jets to keep one of the best in the league around, if they can.

This contract would continue to keep Quinnen Williams paid at the top of the interior defensive line market for a while. I also believe it would satisfy him to keep him around, and the Jets would continue to have a building block for years to come.