The Seahawks acquired Leonard Williams at the October trade deadline, giving up a 2024 second-round draft choice and a 2025 fifth-round selection in exchange.
They didn’t sign him to a long-term deal then, but they are trying now.
“We’re going to try to get him back. We’d love to have him back,” Schneider said Thursday on Seattle Sports. “He’s definitely a priority for us. We’re in the negotiations right now, and the agents know how we feel, and so we’re trying to retain him, no doubt.”
Williams, 29, ranks 18th on PFT’s top 100 free agents list.
He totaled 41 tackles, four sacks and 11 quarterback hits in 10 games with the Seahawks after 21 tackles, 1.5 sacks and five quarterback hits in eight games with the Giants.
“Yeah, he played great,” Schneider said. “You know, we gave up that second-round pick. We went for it. We thought that he was going to help change our defense, and he played well. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the playoffs, but he’s a guy that we want to keep in the mix. You can move him around. . . . You can play him wherever you want, and he’s a great guy. He likes it here. I had a great exit interview with him and yeah, we hope to retain him.”
Williams began his career with the Jets when they made him the sixth overall pick in 2015. The Jets traded him to the Giants at the trade deadline in 2019 before trading him to the Seahawks in the middle of the 2023 season. Now, the Seahawks are working to keep Williams from hitting the free agent market.
