RENTON, Wash. -- As the Giants and Jets faced off in their cross-town rivalry game last Sunday, Seattle Seahawks decision-makers followed along from afar with keen interest.
For weeks, the Seahawks had been eying Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams, envisioning him as a potential impact addition at an area of need even before they lost outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu to a season-ending pectoral injury in Week 7.
The Seahawks had previously asked about Williams but were told that the Giants didn't want to part with one of their best players and a team captain, at least not while they still had a chance to turn their season around with a favorable stretch of games upcoming.
The Oct. 31 trade deadline made Week 8 the natural decision point. As Seahawks players warmed up for their game against the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field, members of their front office watched Giants vs. Jets, their eyes glued to the television the same way they were for Broncos games last season, knowing every Denver loss would improve the first- and second-round picks Seattle was owed from the Russell Wilson trade.
The Giants suffered a sloppy 13-10 defeat that dropped them to 2-6 -- tied for the third-worst record in the NFC -- and ended any real chance of a playoff run. A day later, about 24 hours before the deadline, the Seahawks and Giants agreed to a trade sending Williams to Seattle for a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick. With the Seahawks tight on cap space and cash, and unable to take on Williams' remaining $10 million in base salary, the Giants agreed to pay all but about $647,000 of it in order to make the deal happen.
"To get a player of this magnitude," coach Pete Carroll said, "the makeup of a kid, the guy that he is that you're bringing into your locker room, he's an amazing leader and all of that, tremendous effort guy and everyday worker, the whole thing, there are so many positives. It's a real boost to us."
Williams is the latest October swing for an organization that has made four home-run trades at the deadline since Carroll and general manager John Schneider took over in 2010. That year, they made the franchise-altering acquisition of running back Marshawn Lynch. In 2017, they got a Pro Bowl left tackle in Duane Brown. Quandre Diggs' addition in 2019 gave them a lynchpin in their post-Legion of Boom secondary. A year later, Carlos Dunlap's arrival helped ignite their defensive turnaround en route to an NFC West title.
The Seahawks are betting big that Williams will have the same kind of impact. But his trade differs from the others. Lynch, Diggs and Dunlap were acquired for mid- to late-round picks. Brown cost a second- and third-rounder, but he had another full season left on his contract and got an extension from Seattle the following summer.
The Seahawks hope to do the same with Williams, but with his contract expiring in March, they made the trade knowing they might only be acquiring him for half a season. The high price tag for what could end up being a short-term rental takes into account how the Giants are footing most of the $10 million bill. As much as anything, it reflects how highly the Seahawks think of Williams.
"He was the most consistently dominant player of the group," one Seahawks source said, comparing Williams to other defenders who were available at the deadline.
Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young was among them. Acquired by the San Francisco 49ers for the much lower cost of a third-round pick on Tuesday, Young was still available when the Seahawks traded for Williams, a clear sign about which of the two they preferred. While Young is five years younger and off to a strong start this season, his extensive injury history gave the Seahawks pause, as did the fact that the Commanders seemed intent on trading a player they had drafted second overall less than four years earlier.
The Giants, meanwhile, were reluctant to trade Williams, a three-down player who can play anywhere along the defensive line and make plays against the run and the pass. Williams' sack production has been on the decline since he peaked at 11.5 in 2020 -- he has 1.5 sacks in eight games for New York this season -- but he ranks 13th in pass rush win rate among defensive tackles (13.9%).
"I think what I do well is I'm versatile and I can play the run and I can pass-rush, so I bring a lot to the game," Williams said in his introductory press conference Wednesday. "I pretty much feel like wherever you put me or [whatever you] need me to do, I can do that. I know sacks aren't everything. I think I'm good at pushing the pocket."
If the Giants were looking to the future when they dealt Williams, the Seahawks may have acquired him with one eye on all the run-heavy offenses they'll face over the next two months.
The Baltimore Ravens, their opponent Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS), rank third in rushing yards (143.1) per game. Seattle still has both games remaining against the rival San Francisco 49ers, who are fifth in rushing (133.5). The Philadelphia Eagles are seventh (132.3). The Arizona Cardinals, despite their 1-7 record, are fourth (137.8). That means five of their remaining 10 games are against top-10 rushing offenses, with two more opponents -- the Dallas Cowboys (11th) and Tennessee Titans (13th) -- also in the top half of the league.
The Seahawks have been one of the NFL's best run defenses all season, allowing the eighth-fewest rush yards per game (96.9). But they've started to leak oil over the past two weeks -- perhaps not coincidentally after losing Nwosu. They should be more stout with Williams on the field instead of Darrell Taylor, whose strength is rushing the passer and not defending the run.
Williams gives them another big-bodied playmaker at a position where their depth wasn't strong, which will allow them to keep Jarran Reed and Dre'Mont Jones fresh. Putting all three on the field at the same time will allow Seattle to play with bigger personnel up front when needed, with Jones potentially playing more end and Williams sliding into 3-technique.
"I can kind of already see on film how some of these guys play," Williams said. "J-Reed has been playing really good ball this year ... so I'm looking forward to playing with him. I'm going to change here and there if I have to fit the scheme, but overall they told me to just be the player that they know I am and they said that's why they brought me here."