Contextualizing the Quincy Williams contract: Was it fair value?

On Sunday, the New York Jets and linebacker Quincy Williams agreed to a three-year, 18 million dollar contract. Of the 18 million, 9 million is guaranteed in the manner that he is a near lock to see at least the first 2 years of the deal.

The deal was met by mixed reviews by Jets fans, as most deals are. In an attempt to ascertain the degree to which the deal was good, bad, or ugly for the Jets, I will dive into Quincy’s ProFootballFocus (PFF) grades as well as the contract values of other players who play his position.

2022 PFF grades (rank in parentheses)

• Overall score: 55.2 (62nd of 81 ranked players)
• Rush defense score: 60.8 (52nd)
• Pass rush score: 66.2 (35th)
• Coverage score: 50.0 (64th)

Contract values within position (linebacker)

Quincy Williams received a 3 year deal for 18 million dollars with an average annual value (AAV) of 6 million dollars. Other active players who have received between 5 and 7 million dollars on their AAV with contract lengths of at least 2 years are:

• Germaine Pratt (Cincinnati Bengals): PFF grade of 78.4 in 2022
• T.J. Edwards (Chicago Bears): PFF grade of 81.6 in 2022
• Alex Singleton (Denver Broncos: PFF grade 79.1 in 2022
• Josey Jewell (Denver Broncos): PFF grade of 71.7 in 2022
• Christian Kirksey (Houston Texans): PFF grade of 56.1 in 2022
• Jordan Hicks (Minnesota Vikings): PFF grade of 66.7 in 2022

My Takeaways

According to PFF, Quincy Williams was a consistently below average linebacker. Despite that, his contract value is in line with players who are among the best at the position with the exception of Kirksey and Hicks (who are both in the final year of their contract rather than their first like Williams).

Overall, Williams’ contract appears to be a rather large overpay if we opt to trust PFF’s grading system.