Stephen Jones made headlines last week when he announced the Dallas Cowboys are “absolutely” willing to start long-term contract talks with defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who they acquired via trade from the New York Jets a little less than a year ago.
Williams
is currently under contract through the 2027 season, so getting an extension done with him sooner rather than later could be in everyone’s best interest. Fortunately, Oxnard has proven to be friendly grounds for contract talks in years past and could be so once again seeing as how both parties seem to be mutually interested in sticking together long-term.
With Williams expressing his desire to stick in Dallas long-term, and the Cowboys openness to lock him up for the foreseeable future, this deal could get done at some point before the 2026 season kicks off. That’s especially true if the organization pulls off the “substantive” trade everyone speculating about. To make such a move, they’d have to do some finagling with the salary-cap.
While there are some concerns when signing any player to a big money contract, Williams’ availability/production throughout his seven-year career speaks for itself. The 29-year-old is one of the top players at his position and will end up getting paychecks by the Cowboys or someone else in the not-too-distant future. Fortunately for him and the Cowboys, the groundwork has already been laid.
The recent contract extensions for Philadelphia Eagles DT Jalen Carter and Tennessee Titans DT Jeffery Simmons has laid the groundwork for the Cowboys and Williams’ representatives to potentially work something out quickly. There will of course be some going back and forth between both parties haggling to try to get the best deal possible, but that’s just part of the business.
The Eagles recently signed Carter to a four-year, $152 million extension with $106 million guaranteed. The 25-year-old two-time Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro (2024) will make an average of $38 million per year, making him the highest-paid DT in the league. $38 million per year would be the top of the market Williams’ reps could seek, but Jeffery Simmons’ recent deal is probably more realistic.
Until Carter signed his recent extension, Simmons was briefly the highest-paid DT in the league receiving a three-year, $105.8 million deal with $100 million guaranteed and $35.3 million AVV. Like Williams, Simmons is also 29 years old and a seven-year pro. From a starting to a production standpoint, their careers pretty much are a mirror image of one another.
Simmons and Williams are four-time Pro Bowl players and each has been named as a First-Team All-Pro in their careers. Each has about 100 starts under their belts since entering the league as first-round picks in 2019 and both have about the same QB sacks, Williams with 41.5 and Simmons with 42.5.
Considering all of the similarities with Simmons (age, production, starts), the extension he received from the Titans is probably similar to what the Cowboys and Williams’ reps work out. Knowing that, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if No. 92’s long-term future in Dallas is settled sometime soon.
