Trade fever continues and as moves are made players are often uprooted from their homes and forced to make the trek across country to their new—and possibly temporary—home (see: Kenyan Drake).
This time, the player barely has to move, he even gets to report to the same stadium for his home games. The New York Jets and the New York Giants have agreed to a deal that will switch defensive lineman Leonard Williams from the Green & White to Big Blue.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the deal:
Trade: Jets traded Leonard Williams to Giants for a 3 this year and a 5 in 2021, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 28, 2019
ESPN’s Field Yates followed up with the information that this is the first time these two franchises have ever made a transaction with each other:
The Leonard Williams trade marks the first time the Jets and the Giants have ever made a trade with each other.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 28, 2019
Four years after being the Jets top pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Williams fell out of favor in New York, particularly when the coaching change happened this year.
Williams will be a free agent at the end of the season, so giving up two future picks is a pretty hefty price for the Giants to pay. The expectation would be that the move was made with the intention of keeping Williams in the Big Apple (or more accurately the swamp lands of New Jersey). However, Schefter points out that if the Giants and Williams agree to a contract extension the 2021 draft pick switches from a fifth-rounder to a fourth-rounder:
More details: The 2021 5th-round pick that the Giants are trading to the Jets for Leonard Williams becomes a 4th-round pick if he signs a contract extension before the start of the league year, per source.
Jets are paying $4 million of Williams’ $6 million salary this season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 28, 2019
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